The invasive dark falsemussel Mytilopsis leucophaeata (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae): A literature review

Abstract

This paper reviews literature from the Americas and Europe on the dark falsemussel Mytilopsis leucophaeata (Conrad in J Acad Nat Sci Phila 6(2):256-268, 1831), including data collected in its native habitat in the Americas that appear as incidental information in published reports. Mytilopsis leucophaeata is a poorly studied dreissenid bivalve that is native to mainly oligohaline-mesohaline regions of estuaries in North America. In its native habitat, it usually occurs in very low numbers and has rarely been mentioned in field survey reports. However, occasionally in its native habitat and often in habitats where it has been introduced (as in Europe and Brazil), it may undergo population irruptions for no clear reason. This review describes habitat characteristics, environmental tolerances, and biological and ecological attributes of the species. The assembled information reveals the species to be euryhaline and eurythermal, with an unexplained ability to persist in its native estuaries even though it is relatively short-lived and usually uncommon. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.