What is "quagga mussel"

n. A mussel, (taxlink Dreissena rostriformis species noshow=1), originally from Ukraine but present as an invasive species in the United States.

The quagga mussel, scientific name Dreissena bugensis, and also known as Dreissena rostriformis bugensis, is a species (or subspecies) of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Dreissenidae.

This freshwater mussel has an average life span of 3 to 5 years.

This subspecies is indigenous to the Dnieper River drainage of Ukraine. The species is named after the quagga, an extinct subspecies of African zebra, possibly because, like the quagga, its stripes fade out towards the ventral side.

The quagga mussel is currently of major concern in the Great Lakes of North America as an invasive species brought by overseas shippers that use the St. Lawrence Seaway.