Invasive freshwater bivalve of the Neotropical Region

Abstract

Since the 1960´s, three species of freshwater bivalves: Corbicula fluminea (Müller) or "Asiatic clam", C. largillierti (Philippi) (Corbiculidae) and Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker) or "golden mussel" (Mytilidae), from the southeast of Asia, have reached the neotropical Plata Basin through the Río de la Plata.The Asiatic clam and the golden mussel, are invaders because they are exotic and characterized by early sexual maturity, high reproductive capacity and adaptability to the different environments they colonize.