Hoard of zebra mussels found living under mat on Texas lake, woman’s photo shows
A Texas family discovered a hoard of zebra mussels after flipping over a floating mat on Lake LBJ northwest of Austin.
Sarah Entzminger shared a photo of the mat nearly covered in the invasive species at her family’s lake house in Kingsland. She told KVUE the mat was floating Lake Lyndon B. Johnson.
“We have flipped this mat over several times last year and found nothing,” Entzminger said, according to KVUE. “We flipped it June 2021, this is what we found. It goes to show how quickly they can multiply and infest our lakes and waters.”
Zebra mussels have infested 33 lakes in the state and rivers downstream from these bodies of water, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. Established and reproducing populations of zebra mussels were discovered in Lake LBJ in 2019, officials said.
As larvae, zebra mussels have a “free-floating” stage that lasts up to a month, allowing them to be transported in ballast water, irrigation or pipes, according to TexasInvasives.org. This combined with the ability to breed during their first year of life means zebra mussels multiply rapidly.
Adult zebra mussels can attach to many surfaces, including boats and trailers.
Additionally, their shells are sharp and hazardous to people recreating on shorelines, officials said.
Zebra mussels have caused “alarming declines in populations of fish” and even disrupted the water supply for cities by colonizing in pipes, according to TexasInvasives.org.
“(Texas Parks and Wildlife) and partners monitor lakes around the state for early detection of zebra mussels, but once they’ve been introduced and become established in a lake, nothing can be done to control or eradicate them,” officials said in a news release.
Lakegoers are urged to clean, drain and dry their boats after leaving a lake with zebra mussels to prevent them from spreading to other bodies of water.
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