First records of the quagga mussel, Dreissena rostriformis bugensis (Andrusov, 1897), in the Meuse River within France

After its first observation in the Hollandsch Diep in 2006, the quagga mussel expanded in an upstream direction within the rivers, Rhine and Meuse. The species was found throughout the Dutch and Belgian sections of the Meuse River between 2008 and 2011, but was never reported from the Meuse in France, i.e., upstream of the Belgian border. Herein, this document reports the finding of the quagga mussel at two locations in the French section of this river. The lengths of the quagga mussels collected in this study – including the initial discovery of a 23.0 mm long individual in October 2011 – suggest that their original introduction into the Meuse River within France occurred in 2009 or
earlier.