Thursday 18 April 2019

Invasive round gobies may be poised to decimate endangered French Creek mussels


APRIL 1, 2019
The round goby—a small, extremely prolific, invasive fish from Europe—poses a threat to endangered freshwater mussels in northwestern Pennsylvania's French Creek, one of the last strongholds for two species of mussels, according to researchers.
French Creek flows from southwest New York state about 117 miles to the Allegheny River at Franklin, Pennsylvania. It is the most species-rich stream in Pennsylvania and is nationally recognized for its biodiversity, with more than 80 species of fish and 29 species of freshwater mussels.
Four of the mussels in French Creek are listed under the Endangered Species Act: northern riffleshell, snuffbox, clubshell and rayed bean. Northern riffleshell and clubshell mussels are considered critically imperiled and have lost 95 percent of their historic global range—but they appear to have stable populations in French Creek.

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