Introduced Marine Aquatic Invaders - a field guideJoin the Anti-Pest ProgramMarine pests what are theyHow pests get here What damage they do What we are doing What I can do? Northern Pacific Seastar Green CrabPacific OysterAeolid NudibranchNew Zealand Screw ShellAsian MusselBlack Striped Mussel Chinese ClamEuropean Fan WormJapanese Goby Japanese Seaweed Bryozoan
Introduced Marine Aquatic Invaders - a field guide
Introducted Marine Species - Asian Mussel
Musculista senhousia
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| Asian Mussel - Musculista senhousia Photo: Clay Bryce/WA Museum |
Australia Invasion
- Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia
- discovered in Western Australia during 1983, in the Canning River, the Swan Estuary and Fremantle
Habitat
- enclosed intertidal and shallow subtidal flats (to 8 metres)
- soft or hard substrates, including jetty piles and seaweed
ID Features
- thin smooth shell
- up to 3 cm in length
- periostracum (outer coating) on shell surface is dull olive green in colour
- shell usually has a pattern of up to 16 fine purple to brown lines radiating from the pointed end, crossed by more diffuse zigzag lines
- interior shell high lustre and wavy purple to red lines
- solitary mussels are usually vertically anchored into a soft substrate and surrounded by a byssal bag (cocoon of hair-like threads)
- individual mussels typically bind together in groups and form a byssal mat *
- no hinge teeth inside shell valves
- hinge side of shell straight or slightly curved, other side slightly concave
More information
More detailed information on this Marine Invader is available here.
...More Information on this Invader
Similar Native Marine Species
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| Amygdalum spp Photo: Wells and Bryce/Seashells of WA |
Amygdalum spp
- semi-sheltered waters with oceanic salinity
- thin, almost smooth shell
- outside shell is pale cream to green in colour, with fine brown rays or zigzag markings
- generally solitary mussels*
- constructs byssal bags in soft substrates
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| Musculus spp. Photo: Clay Bryce/WA Museum |
Musculus spp.
- tolerant of a range of salinities and conditions
- smaller in length than Asian Mussel
- thin shell with faint radial ribs on exterior*
- colour variable and mainly comprised of indistinct zigzag lines
- small individuals attach to hard substrates and may be surrounded by byssal hairs
- large individuals may be embedded in sponges or ascidians
* distinguishing feature
Note: The Asian mussel may also be confused with the native mussels listed as similar to the introduced black striped mussel. These additional natives are distinguished by their preference of attaching to hard substrates.
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