Help write the 12 days of aquatic invasive species Christmas
(2012 edition) Enjoy the song and the commentary: On the twelfth
day of Christmas, a canal brought to me: Canals have been a
significant source of invasive species into the Great Lakes
region. Canals can be an invasion pathway by opening previously
unavailable habitat to a species (e.g. alewives, lamprey) or by
allowing ships with AIS in their ballast to enter the Great
Lakes (e.g. quagga mussels, spiny water flea). In fact, the
pathway into the Great Lakes region for nearly all of the
invasive species in this jingle can be easily tied to a canal.
The only exception is the red swamp crayfish; it likely made its
way into Wisconsin via an aquarium release. Twelve quaggas
clogging – Quagga mussels are now the dominant invasive mussel
in Lake Michigan. A congener (a member of the same genus) of
zebra mussels, the quagga mussel can tolerate colder water and
colonize soft substrates. These abilities have helped it
colonize most of the benthic habitat in L