Negative effects of Corbicula fluminea over native freshwater mussels

Abstract

The global decline of freshwater mussels is related with a great variety of factors, including the introduction of invasive species. However, the possible effects of other invasive bivalves, such as the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774), remain mainly unknown and highly speculative with very few manipulative experiments addressing this issue. In this study, field and laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the possible negative effects of C. fluminea on the native freshwater mussel Unio delphinus Spengler, 1783. Growth, physiological condition, and the locomotor activity were assessed in U. delphinus at increasing C. fluminea density. U. delphinus exhibited lower growth, lower physiological condition, and higher locomotor activity at higher C. fluminea density, which may suggest that this unionid is negatively affected by C. fluminea and may be displaced to less favorable habitats. Although we were not able to establish the main mechanism(s) responsible for these results, possibilities include competition for food resources, competition for space which may result in mussel displacements and/or changes in microhabitat features as a result of bioturbation activities, and production of feces and pseudofeces by C. fluminea.

First evidence of asymmetric competition between the non‐native clam Corbicula fluminea and the native freshwater mussel Unio delphinus during a summer heat wave

“…The results of this work, as with all experimental re‐creation of natural systems, need to be interpreted cautiously, because the experimental units were small aquaria, the animals were subjected to a specific diet and feeding regime, and the experiments represented only one heat wave event, and used particular nutritional assessments (carbohydrate and lipid contents). Nevertheless, this study is the first demonstration of asymmetric competition among the invasive freshwater clam C. fluminea and native freshwater mussels, previously suggested by Ferreira‐Rodríguez, Sousa, et al (). Freshwater mussels are declining worldwide for reasons such as poor water quality, changes in host fish populations, habitat alteration and destruction, and climate change (Nobles & Zhang, ).…”

“…temperature and salinity; Ferreira‐Rodríguez & Pardo, ; Müller & Baur, ), and its dispersal associated with human activities, such as sport fishing (Lois, ). Colonization by C. fluminea leads to changes in biogeochemical cycles, depletion in phytoplankton abundance, changes in benthic communities, the potential facilitation of other invasive species, or direct competition for food and space with native freshwater mussels (Ferreira‐Rodríguez, Ayres, & Pardo, ; Ferreira‐Rodríguez, Sousa, & Pardo, ; Hakenkamp et al, ; Pigneur et al, ).…”

Conservation of freshwater bivalves at the global scale: diversity, threats and research needs

“…These papers cover a wide variety of topics, from a review of ecosystem services provided by freshwater mussels (Vaughn, 2017) to papers describing the diversity patterns and conservation of Unionida in East and Southeast Asia (Zieritz et al, 2017) as a result of international collaboration. Seven papers focus on different biological aspects of invasive bivalve species, including diversity changes by species substitution , physiological aspects (Labecka & Domagala, 2016), dispersion (Collas et al, 2016), ecological effects on native bivalve species (Ferreira-Rodríguez et al, 2016), low palatability to distinct predators (Castro et al, 2017), metabolite emission suppression in zebra mussels exposed to predation stress (Antoł et al, 2017) and the use of a new sonar technology and underwater imagery analysis for the survey of FB in rivers (Mehler et al, 2016). Propagation as a conservation tool was the subject of three studies: one about an improved method of in vitro culture of glochidia (Ma et al, 2016), one introducing short-term breeding of the Endangered freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera (Linnaeus, 1758) as a new technique for the augmentation of declining populations (Moorkens, 2017) and one revising the challenges in the conservation progress of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) .…”

High abundance of an invasive species gives it an outsized ecological role

“…Throughout much of North America, the invasive freshwater Asian clam Corbicula fluminea has become the dominant filter feeding bivalve (Crespo, Dolbeth, Leston, Sousa, & Pardal, 2015), with populations reaching as far north as the St. Lawrence River (Castaneda, Hamelin, Simard, & Ricciardi, 2018) and the Great Lakes (Smith, Harris, Harris, LaBudde, & Hayer, 2018), although these populations are dependent on thermal refugia from industrial cooling. Corbicula may also compete with native mussels (Leff, Burch, & McArthur, 1990) and can have negative impacts on the growth and physiological condition of unionid mussels (Ferreira-Rodríguez, Sousa, & Pardo, 2018).…”