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scooper47:
More bad news for fishermen (and other boaters).

https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/berkshire-county/invasive-species-detected-in-berkshire-county-lake/

taxid:
Sorry to hear that.  :(

Any idea if these particular bodies of water have harder water than typical Massachusetts waters? I say that because typically zebras don't do well in soft waters as they need the calcium that hard water provides to built their shells.

taxid:
I found this:

The pH of waterbodies ranged from 6.79 to 8.55, alkalinities ranged from 4.0 to 162.0 mg/L, and calcium concentrations ranged from 2.0 to 44.0 mg/L. Calcium and pH are widely considered the most critical parameters in assessing the susceptibility of a waterbody to zebra mussel survival and reproduction; low-risk waterbodies usually have pH below 7.4 and calcium below 12 mg/L, whereas high-risk waterbodies usually have pH above 8.0 and calcium above 20 mg/L. The 21 waterbodies surveyed for this report, were divided into three categories based on their susceptibility to successful colonization by zebra mussels:
• Low Risk (seven waterbodies): Benedict Pond, Big Pond, Center Pond, Goose Pond, Otis Reservoir, Thousand Acre Pond, and Windsor Pond
• Medium Risk (four waterbodies): Ashmere Lake, Shaw Pond, Lake Garfield, and Plunkett Reser- voir
• High Risk (ten waterbodies): Cheshire Reservoir, Housatonic River (Great Barrington to Pittsfield), Lake Buel, Lake Mansfield, Laurel Lake, Onota Lake, Pontoosuc Lake, Prospect Lake, Richmond Pond, and Stockbridge Bowl

https://www.mass.gov/doc/phase-i-zebra-mussel-report-2009/download

lowaccord66:
Laurel lake down the road has them (zebras) so no surprise...

taxid:

--- Quote from: lowaccord66 on Mar 09, 2024, 03:29 PM ---Laurel lake down the road has them (zebras) so no surprise...

--- End quote ---

Yep sadly easily transported as almost microscopic veligers (larval state of mussels) in water, attached to boats, and equipment. The only upside for your region is I believe many of your waters lack the calcium and higher Ph needed for their success.

But typically once the horse is out of the barn (they are discovered in a body of water) which is usually the case, it's too late to establish measures to prevent their spread.

It's ironic that at one point low Ph due to acid rain was a problem in the northeast (still is in some bodies of water), but yet low Ph is the enemy of the zebra mussel.

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