Zebra mussel
Common mussel species as invasive animal in rivers and lakes with high information level for water pollution
The zebra mussel is a sedentary inhabitant of slow-flowing and stagnant waters, where it filters vegetable and animal microorganisms. As a consequence, it is exposed to hazardous substances, whether in solution or particulate suspension and, therefore, useful in active biomonitoring and in toxicity and impact tests. To ensure quantitative availability, easy access and improved reproducibility, an exposure system has been developed using uncontaminated breeding sites which can be colonized by larvae until adulthood.
The entire soft body is used as a specimen. Sampling takes place yearly between September and late November, preferably after final spawning.
For more information about the specimen, the sampling and the processing of samples see the Guideline for Sampling and Sample Processing Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha).
Recommended analysis examples
Search data
Target organs/Matrices
-
Soft bodyThe soft body of the mussel enriches the filtrated substances. It consists of muscles and inner organs.
Sampling area
-
Important, old-industrialised conurbation in Germany.
-
Main water divide between the North- and Baltic Sea
-
Longest river in Germany
-
Fourth largest river basin in Central Europe
-
Region in the chemical triangle of Central Germany
-
Second largest river in Europe
Analytes
-
Eighty percent of all elements on earth are metals
-
Only eighteen elements in the periodic table
-
Organic substances with at least one metall atom
-
Group of organic compounds with at least one covalently bonded chlorine atom
-
Toxic and persistent organochloropesticide
-
Several isomeric compounds among the group of chlorinated hydrocarbons
-
Group of organic compounds with at least three condensed six-membered rings
-
Organic compounds which are fully (per-) or partially (poly-) fluorinated
-
Atoms of one element with different weights
-
Flame retardants reduce the flammability of objects
-
Additional information for the interpretation of contamination data
Sampling period
1992 - 2022
Biometric parameters
Extended information
Links to external information and legislation
Literature
-
Mercury levels and trends (1993-2009) in bream (Abramis brama L.) and zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) from German surface waters
Lepom, Peter; Irmer, Ulrich; Wellmitz, Jörg
Chemosphere 86 (2012), 2, 202-211, 2012