The U.S. Government Is Begging You to Destroy Moss Balls
Zebra mussels showed up in imported aquarium accessories across 32 states. Ecologists want your help killing them.
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THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO wreck a moss ball. You might not want to, at first, because they’re quite charming, as far as aquarium accessories go—vivid green and damply hairy, like a Muppet that’s been through the wash. But if you choose to be merciless, you can pick from several modes of attack. You could seal it in a plastic bag and banish it to the freezer. You could submerge it in screaming-hot water for 60 seconds. You could dunk it in diluted bleach for 10 minutes, or straight-up vinegar for 20. Any of these approaches will also kill the real target: unwanted creatures bedding down on the small, fuzzy spheres.
It’s sadism in the name of conservation. Pet stores in 32 American states were recently found to be selling moss balls studded with zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha, and the U.S. government wants the mollusks gone, one mangled moss ball at a time.
Zebra mussels, named for the zigs and zags on their almond-sized shells, are native to Eurasia, and are thought to have first arrived in North America in the late 1980s as stowaways on ships lumbering across the Great Lakes. The mussels probably sloshed around in ballast water, stored to stabilize an empty ship and released before it’s loaded with cargo.
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https://www.atlasobscura.com/article...sels-moss-ball
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-z...are-about-them