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StumbleENVIRONMENT:
Bottom feeder’s arrival in Nevada lakes worries wildlife officials
Saturday, June 5, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.
Sun Archives
- Quagga mussels a toxic threat to Lake Mead (11-9-2009)
- Wary of invasive species, hatchery suspends operations (1-20-2009)
- Mussels’ last meal (6-20-2008)
- Get rid of pest? Not if it turns tap water pink (7-21-2007)
- Mussels now contained but need monitoring (1-18-2007)
- Lake Mead mussels identified as quagga, not zebra (1-13-2007)
Move over quagga and zebra mussels, a new invasive mollusk is making waves in Nevada.
Sport fishermen and state wildlife officials are worried about New Zealand mudsnails after a colony of the tiny critters was found on a boat ramp at Lake Tahoe last week.
Although they haven’t gotten the attention that quagga and zebra mussels have, mudsnails are in Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. They’re in Echo Bay and Boulder Basin and at Willow Beach.
The reason there hasn’t been much noise about them is they aren’t capable of the kind of damage that quaggas are. Unlike the quaggas, mudsnails don’t attach themselves to infrastructure such as hydropower generators and water pipelines.
The snails also aren’t thriving in the warmer waters of the lake the way quaggas are. Mudsnails prefer deeper areas of lakes because the water is colder, about 52 degrees. So far, the snails have not adapted to warmer waters.
But in the areas where they do live, they tend to push out other bottom feeders. In Yosemite National Park, mudsnails make up 95 percent of the invertebrate population of some stream beds.
“They’re very small, but they out-compete the native invertebrate species for food,” says Doug Nielsen, Nevada Wildlife Department spokesman. “So you see a decline in body condition of, say, trout in a stream, because the invertebrate population declines, and (the trout) don’t have the food source they need to survive.”
Native fish won’t eat mudsnails.
The largest of these light brown mollusks are about 5 millimeters — about half the size of Abe Lincoln’s head on a penny. But these minuscule mollusks pack a punch in the reproductive department.
Females can produce up to 120 embryos each. And although only about 5 percent of a colony are males, the females don’t need the boys around to have big families. They are parthenogenetic, meaning they can reproduce without a mate.
And in Nevada, they can reproduce year-round, so a lake can go from a population of zero to an all-out infestation in less than five years. They’ve been in Lake Mead since at least 2008.
The mudsnail also has no local predators and is virtually impossible to get rid of without poisoning the water in which it lives.
Redear sunfish, also known as shellcrackers, would likely eat mudsnails and quagga mussels, but scientists want to have a better idea of how they will affect the ecosystem before they are introduced into Lake Mead.
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Definition:
Bottom Feeders-greedy mortgage lenders who gave adjustable rate loans to unqualified low income people, so that the mortgage lenders could make billions on loan fees. These low income, poorly educated people did not understand the fine print about what happens when the mortgage rates increases and so does the monthly payment. The greedy lenders also did not clearly explain this to the poorly educated people.
When the low income people could not make pay the increased mortgage payments, the real estate market collapsed. However, the greedy people did not really care, they already got their mortgage fees and the mortgages were sold to the US government or hidden in scam stock market investment portfolios. Subsequently, the losses in the real estate market were covered by the US tax payers and the stock market investors who lost all their money.
But the bottom feeder greedy mortgage brokers were still rich on the billions of mortgage fees.
Attorneys are outdoor enthuisiasts too?
hmm...sounds more like "if you hate me, you must be racist" obama supporters.
@Bob635
I swear as soon as I read the words "Bottom feeder's arrivage in Nevada..." I thought this was going to be a commentary on financial lenders of real estate and debt consolidator loans...
You guy are too much.
I enjoy the comments as much and in some cases more then the actual story.
Redear are good pan fried. With all the other invasive species around how could it make it worse?
It's funny how this comment board turned into a bash on Mortgage Lenders and Democrats.
Unfortunately I can't defend the Dems but I will say that most of the unfortunate people that are losing their homes heard what they wanted to hear during the housing boom When it came to the loan they were getting, those people that are complaining right now are the ones who only believed someone when they were being told what they wanted to hear. As long as they could jump on the band wagon and get that new home that was going to make them rich that was all that mattered. Some of those homeowner's that should have never bought the home they could not afford when they bought it were turned down by 2 or 3 other lenders before they finally found one that would give them a loan, now they complain that they didn't understand - I am sorry but while some were probably not given good advise by the lender OR REALTOR, most forced their way into houses and loans they could not afford. AMERICANS ARE NOT THAT DUMB PEOPLE, some just happen to be greedy liars, and some were not even AMERICAN.
I am American and I love this country and I am tired of people smashing Capitalism and free markets because they gambled and lost, because they used their homes as ATM's and bought Escalades and Hummers when they should have been saving for their children's college and making their house payments. This does not apply to those who had true hardships where they lost their jobs due to the economy or some other unforeseen situation, this is not aimed at those who have run into unfortunate times that were outside of their control. This is a message to those who pulled cash out of their house and blew it in a week at an amusement park, or on meth and cocaine or bought five more homes because they thought they were going to be overnight Millionaires, this is to you. Keep whining and feeling sorry for yourself, keep letting the Dems take your freedoms until you have nothing while they pretend to feel sorry for you, always looking for the liar who will tell you what you want to hear. Keep telling everyone how your REALTOR and MORTGAGE LENDER took advantage of you, keep complaining about the bank that holds your mortgage because they won't lower the amount of money you owe just because the value of your bet dropped. I paid my mortgage and no one came to help me or lower my payments, but I didn't buy a McMansion that I couldn't afford to begin with, I didn't cash out the equity on the roof over my head so I could increase my standard of living.
Sorry folks but there are many of you who know this is true and this one's for you.
on the great lakes they had a huge alewive problem, a lot of fish washing up on the shore ,dying and smelling real bad. they introduced a coho salmon into the lake to eat these fish and it worked well, but it wasnt enough. so they crossed the coho with a walleye and called it a cowal; a little better but still came up short; so they crossed the cowal with a muskie and called it a cowalski...... they coulodnt teach it how to swim!
I thought the Sun was just learning of all the mexicans that have swarmed us!
I saw that headline and came in to make some smart ass comment. Looks like many others had the same idea.
Nevada has land invaders and water invaders. We should get rid of both.