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Discovered in Tampa Bay in 1999, The Southeast Asian green mussel probably made its way to Florida on the hulls of vessels or in the ballast water of ships from the Caribbean. Scientists are worried the mussel will become as invasive as the zebra mussel, which infest the Great Lakes and has spread down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. The green mussels are able to reproduce by the age of two months and are spread through ocean currents. The Keys might be the their next target. Environmentally, they're becoming a nuisance able to displace native mollusks, spread disease and out-compete filter-feeding sea creatures for plankton.
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