Reclamation Information Sharing Environment (RISE)

The project was aimed at analysis of trace elements in the shells of invasive quagga and zebra mussel veliger larvae as a tool determine whether the veligers grew in the waters where they were collected. Despite significant efforts in partnership with a USGS laboratory using state-of-the-art methods and equipment for laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), the samples target for analysis were too small to facilitate reliable data collection. The project did result in the development of techniques for performing tissue digestion and shell recovery from individual veligers, which may provide a valuable method for future work on invasive mussels.