The effects of the invasive mussel, Limnoperna fortunei, on associated fauna in South American freshwaters: importance of physical structure and food supply

SARDIÑA PAULA; CATALDO, DANIEL; BOLTOVSKOY DEMETRIO

Fundamental and Applied Limnology

E. Schweizerbart Science

Lugar: Alemania; Año: 2008 vol. 173 p. 135 - 144

1863-9135

We examined the importance of the introduced Asian golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) in structuring invertebrate communities in South American freshwaters. An experiment using artificial substrata (i.e., concrete tiles with either a layer of living mussels, a layer of intact empty shells that mimicked living mussels, or barren tiles) showed that invertebrate diversity, density and biomass are enhanced in the presence of living mussels as compared with blank and shell-only tiles, which suggests that the biotic attributes associated with living mussels (biodeposits) have a much stronger effect on the accompanying fauna than the physical structure of the shells alone. Our results suggest that dense golden mussel colonization influence invertebrate communities by enhancing conditions for deposit-feeding organisms and small predatory invertebrates. Given that most South American inland waters are physically and chemically suitable for the establishment of Limnoperna fortunei, we anticipate widespread restructuring of freshwater benthic communities and food webs as L. fortunei invades new watersheds.