79. Dreissena rostriformis bugensis Andrusov, 1897

Findings in Serbia.

Dreissena rostriformis bugensis: Raković et al. (2013, 2015); Tomović et al. (2010 b); Paunović et al. (2015); Zorić et al. (2020).

Common name. Quagga mussel.

Morphology. Medium-sized bivalve. Shell reaches up to 40 mm in length, and usually is less flattened than in Dreissena polymorpha . For more details see Welter-Schultes (2012: 17, figure on the top of the page).

Distribution and ecology. Ponto-Caspian species, being spread throughout Europe and North America. It inhabits freshwater rivers, lakes and canals. In Serbia, it can be found in the Danube River.

Other remarks. Though its global dispersal has started a bit later than D. polymorpha, it seems to be even more competitive than previous species, thus replacing D. polymorpha as the dominant dreissenid species in the community where both species coexists (Ricciardi & Whoriskey 2004). In Serbia its first record is from 2010, while D. polymorpha was firstly reported in 1975 (Matoničkin et al 1975). It has been assessed as LC on the IUCN Red List (Rintelen & Van Damme 2011).