![]() ![]() This was expected since glass is hydrophilic (water-attracting). The team's findings indicated that the mussels were able to adhere more strongly to glass than plastics, such as PVC. "You can't put them in a traditional apparatus for testing tensile strength." James, who worked on the project as part of his undergraduate thesis, is a postdoctoral scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. ![]() "The threads they use to attach themselves to surfaces are only a few millimeters long and as thin as a human hair," said University of Toronto Engineering alumnus Bryan James. Since zebra mussels are so small, measuring their ability to stick to various surfaces has been a challenge for Sone's team. Since arriving in the Great Lakes they have spread to several major river systems, including the Ohio, Illinois, Mississippi, Mohawk, Hudson, Susquehanna, Tennessee, and Arkansas rivers. "But on the other hand, if we understand why they stick so well, that could help us design things like non-toxic biodegradable glues, which could offer an alternative to internal stitches for surgery or localized drug delivery applications."Īccording to, zebra mussels are native to the Caspian Sea region of Asia and arrived in the Great Lakes region in the 1980s in the ballast water of a ship. "On one hand, these mussels are a problem in terms of what we call biofouling, so we're looking to design materials or coating to keep them from clogging water intake pipes, for example," said Sone. Eli Sone, a professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto, has been working with his team to study zebra mussels and quagga mussels (another invasive species) for years, hoping to solve a range of problems. ![]() The zebra mussel's ability to latch onto hard, smooth surfaces has puzzled scientists for years. Not to mention the immense amount of phytoplankton and zooplankton they consume on a daily basis, starving the native populations of the waterway they infest. Females can produce up to a million eggs per summer, growing up to two inches in length, and clogging intake pipes and filters. Zebra mussels are one of the most devastating of these aquatic hitchhikers. They hitch onto the bottom of our boats, trailers, fishing gear, and equipment. We're all familiar with "aquatic hitchhikers"-invasive, non-native animals that threaten our lakes and can cause environmental damage. ![]()
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