Tiny golden mussels have made their way from China to South America, potentially causing a serious ecological problem in the Amazon River. Researchers may have discovered a way to stop them through genetic mapping, but the race is on to stop the invasive species before they get out of control.
The invasive mussels have already wreaked havoc on the waters of five countries and caused local clam species to dwindle; now they are threatening to take over the waters of the roaring Amazon, the Associated Press reported.
"There's no doubt the environmental effect would be dramatic," Marcia Divina de Olivieira, a scientist with the Brazilian government's Embrapa research agency, told the AP.
The mussels also cause problems by clogging pipes, and have already cost hydroelectric and water treatment plants in Sao Paulo state, Buenos Aires, Argentina and other counties to spend millions of dollars on damage control.
The mussels eat by sucking in water and filtering out plankton and other microscopic plant life, which can change phosphorous and nitrogen levels in the water and lead to toxic algae blooms. The mussels can also provide more food for fish and ducks, interfering with the natural food chain.
"You clearly want to keep these out of the Amazon because if they were to get in, the potential consequences are very significant. The key right now is you have to shut the door to make sure they can't spread further," Hugh MacIsaac, a professor at the University of Windsor, in Ontario, Canada told the AP.
The mussels' spread appears to have stopped at the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands system due to fluctuating oxygen levels, but this is located only 1,200 miles from the Amazon. Researchers fear the mussels (or their larvae) will hitch a ride on the hulls of boats, leading to new contamination.
Brazil's government has been fighting the invasive species for the past decade; but new genetic research by a 27-year-old doctoral student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro could lead to a "bio bullet" that leaves the species infertile.
"If we manage it, it would be huge obviously from an economic point of view but also to protect biodiversity," researcher Marcela Uliano da Silva told the AP. "The Amazon is under so many threats."
Despite the finding's promise, the plan could take up to four years to come to fruition.
"Even if it takes a long time, I believe it would be possible and it would be wonderful," Olivieira said.
