Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: north of Pittsburg/CA/Sacramento River (1945, Counts 1986; Counts 1991)
Geographic Extent
north of Pittsburg/CA/Sacramento River (1945, Counts 1986; Counts 1991; Peterson and Vayssieres 2010); CA/Delta-Mendota Canal (Counts 1986); Antioch/CA/Sacramento River (1951, Counts 1991; USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2007); CA/Old River (Peterson and Vayssieres 2010, abundant); near Port Chicago/CA/Suisun Bay (1960, Counts 1991; USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2007); CA/Grrizzly Bay (Peterson and Vayssieres 2010, abundant 1983-1984, wet years before Corbula invasion); Mokelumne Aqueduct, Shad Landing/CA/San Joaquin River (1945, Counts 1986, Counts 1991; USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2007); Benicia/CA/Carquinez Straits (1978, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2007)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Fisheries Intentional |
| Alternate | Fisheries Accidental (not Oyster) |
| Alternate | Discarded Bait |
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
Regional Impacts
| Economic Impact | Industry | |
| In California, C. fluminea formed extensive bars, trapping sediment in the Delta-Mendota Canal, requiring dewatering and removal of 50,000 cubic yards of sediment. It has caused extensive problems in California irrigation systems (Cohen and Carlton 1995). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Toxic | |
| While not inherently toxic, as very efficient filterers, C. fluminea accumulate toxicants in their tissue, such as selenium, arsenic and mercury. Concentrations were highest upstream near agricultural areas, and tended to decrease downstream (Leland and Scudder 1990) | ||
| Ecological Impact | Herbivory | |
| Corbicula biomasses and filtering rates in some regions of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were sufficient to sharply decrease phytoplankton biomass (Lucas et al. 2002; Lopez et al. 2006). | ||