Dreissena polymorpha has not been recorded in Australia to date.

Dreissena polymorpha, commonly known as the zebra mussel (ITIS 2012), is epifaunal (living on the surface of the sediment/substrate). It is very adaptable and can tolerate a comparatively wide range of salinities, ranging from fresh to brackish water. The species is dioecious (separate sexes), with external fertilisation and planktotrophic larvae. It is considered extremely fertile and fast-growing, and can attain considerable population densities. Once introduced, D. polymorpha populations can grow rapidly, with the total biomass of a population capable of exceeding 10 times that of all other native benthic invertebrates (Karatayev et al., 2002).

The zebra mussel is native to the Black, Caspian, and Azov Seas. In 1769, Pallas first described populations of this species from the Caspian Sea and Ural River (Benson et al., 2020). According to CABI (2019) D. polymorpha has been in introduced to Turkey, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico. It is highly invasive in the US and Canada.

Diagnostic features include a triangular shape with an obvious ridge between the side and bottom, a flat ventral side and a large groove in the middle of the flat side. The colour is usually dark; however, colours and patterns are variable (Snyder et al., 1997).

The maximum size may reach 50 mm, though individuals rarely exceed 40 mm (Mackie et al. 1989). The prominent dark and light banding pattern on the shell is the most obvious characteristic of the species, with the outer covering (called the periostracum) generally well-polished, light tan in colour, and with a distinct series of broad, dark, transverse colour bands which may be either smooth or zigzag in shape (GISD, 2020).