Reclamation Information Sharing Environment (RISE)

Reclamation has continued to collaborate with Molloy & Associates LLC to search for novel hypervirulent parasites for the control of invasive dreissenid mussels in North America. The last three years has focused on expanding the search area of ‘cousin’ dreissenid species to include Greece and Turkey, optimizing laboratory and field procedures, and performing transinfection trials to search for parasites. The final report from Molloy & Associates (Appendix A) details the scope, transinfection trial results, and future direction of the research. Dr. Harms, USCE-ERDC, completed a white paper on the regulatory pathway for the use of a hypervirulent parasite as a novel biocontrol agent. This document provides a road map for the next steps once an agent is identified. The identification of a biocontrol agent for dreissenid mussels is a long-term project, and over the last three years the search for a potential biocontrol agent continued. A proposal was submitted and accepted by S&T to continue this research for an additional three years (2025-2027).