Colonies of zebra mussels can also be found along lakeshores, riverbanks, and piers. And mussels will attach to aquatic plants, rocks, floating debris, other bivalves, and crustaceans. Reports of zebra mussel densities along many shallow areas of Lake Erie exceed 30,000 per square meter. European studies have reported very high colony densities that exceed 100,000 mussels per square meter. Biology Zebra mussels, like other bivalves, are filter feeders.
Reports indicate that the average zebra mussel can filter one liter of water per day.
Since its introduction into the Great Lakes, researchers and residents have noticed a dramatic increase in water clarity due to mussels' filtering of particles from the water. But filtering may also reduce the availability of food to other aquatic organisms. It is uncertain what impact zebra mussels will have on the food chain in heavily infested lakes and ponds. The average female zebra mussel can release up to 100,000 eggs per year. Once fertilized, the egg will hatch within days and develop into a free-swimming planktonic larva called a veliger.