Biological and ecological characteristics of invasive species Corbicula fluminea (Mollusca, Bivalvia)

Školjkaši se smatraju ključnim vrstama u vodenim ekosustavima, s mogućnošću kontroliranja i preobrazbe vlastite strukture i funkcije kroz aktivnost filtriranja. Pronalazak alohtonih školjkaša često povlači za sobom ozbiljne posljedice na više trofičke razine u novo okupiranom vodenom okolišu. To su dramatične promjene u raznolikosti i brojnosti bentoskih i planktonskih zajednica, u stvaranju novih staništa, promjene u stopama obavljanja procesa u ekosustavima ili smetnje na infrastukturi i opskrbi vodom koje često uključuje i velik ekonomski trošak. Autohtoni slatkovodni školjkaši su vrlo ugrožena skupina čija brojnost globalno opada zadnjih nekoliko desetljeća. Vrsta Corbicula fluminea ima predispozicije uspješnog kompetitora nad autohtonim vrstama u Europi, ali i na drugim kontinentima, posebno za školjkaše iz porodica Unionidae i Sphaeriidae. Te predispozicije uključuju sposobnost pomicanja i / ili smanjenja raspoloživosti staništa ovih školjkaša te ograničavanje raspoloživosti planktonske hrane, zbog povećane mogućnosti filtracije na osnovi velike biomase. Zbog svega navedenog vrsta C. fluminea predstavlja potencijalnu prijetnju za autohtona staništa i zajednice, uglavnom ugroženih vrsta školjkaša porodice Unionidae i Sphaeriidae.Bivalves are considered as a key species in aquatic ecosystems, being capable of controlling and transforming their structure and functioning through their filtering activity. Therefore, finding of alien bivalves often entails severe consequences at multiple levels in the newly occupied aquatic environments. These include dramatic changes in the diversity and abundance of benthic and plankton communities, creation of new habitats, alterations in the rates of ecosystem processes or interferences with human infrastructures and water uses, frequently involving a large economic cost. Native freshwater bivalves are a highly threatened group which has undergone a global decline in the last decades. Corbicula fluminea has predispositions to be a successful competitor of indigenous species in Europe and also probably in other continents, especially shellfish from the families Unionidae and Sphaeriidae. These qualities include the ability to move and / or reduce the availability of habitat for the shellfish, and limiting the availability of planktonic food due to the increased possibility of filtering on the basis of high biomass. For all the foregoing C. fluminea is a potential threat to native habitats and communities, mainly endangered bivalve family Unionidae and Sphaeriidae