CANNON FALLS, Minn. – It was alarming enough for fishing when a zebra mussel was found last summer in Lake Byllesby between Cannon Falls and Randolph. Now water samples have shown larvae of the invasive mussel. At stake is fishing in the 1,400-acre lake behind a 40-foot concrete dam built in 1910 across the Cannon River.
Zebra mussel profile
The small freshwater mussel originated in southern Russia and Ukraine. A few attached themselves to the hulls of transoceanic freighters and entered the Great Lakes in 1980s. Most are the size of a fingernail. Their shells have fibers the allow the mussel to absorb nutrients that otherwise would be food for bottom-feeding fish.
Easy to spot. Most have a stripes on their shells, hence the name.
