Limnoperna fortunei, commonly known as the Golden Mussel, is an opportunistic freshwater species that was first reported from North American waters near Stockton, CA, in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, in October 2024. It was discovered during a routine maintenance inspection of water quality monitoring equipment by the California Department of Water Resources. It has been introduced to a wide range of locations outside its native Asian lakes and rivers. In invaded regions, L. fortunei has had a variety of dramatic economic and ecological impacts. Some managers have referred to it as a "zebra mussel on steroids" due to the similar nature of its economic impacts (fouling buoys and clogging water treatment and distribution systems) while thriving in a broader range of environmental conditions in shallow water habitats than zebra mussels. In addition, L.fortunei has been observed to outcompete zebra and other Dreissenid mussels in places where they co-occur. Its ecological impacts include alterations to to industrial and power plants, food webs and negative impacts on diversity of other macrobenthic taxa.