C. fluminea sustain Asian clam populations. Various non-indigenous populations of C. fluminea include: British Columbia circa 1924, and now more widespread The Columbia River in the northwest United States in 1938 River Thames, UK in 2004 Cuba Lake Tahoe, on the borders of California and Nevada, they were first found in 2002, and the numbers increased rapidly after 2008. Lake George, NY, USA South America, including Argentina, Uruguay, Brasil (Río de La Plata basin, Río Amazonas Basin, Patagonia - Río Colorado, Río Negro- and is currently in expansion), Perú, Venezuela and Ecuador (Guayas, Daule, Vinces, Quevedo, and Babahoyo River drainages). Germany's Rhine River in the late 1980s Danube River through the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal It reached the Elbe in 1998 at the latest River Nore & Barrow, Republic of Ireland, first recorded in April 2010 Czech Republic - in Elbe in Bohemia since 2000 and it is spreading. It was found in Morava River in south Moravia in 2018. Slovakia Minho River in Portugal Between August 15–28, 2020 in Briggs Lake in Minnesota; however UMN Extension does not believe they are able to naturally survive in Minnesota, instead surviving only in the higher temperatures of power plant coolant water Shuswap Lake, British Columbia, Canada in 2020 Found in the Pend d'Oreille River in British Columbia, a tributary of the Columbia, in the spring of 2021 Means of dispersal Human vectors Human activities are the chief reason for the wide dispersal of C. fluminea as an invasive aquatic organism. Its global invasion probably started with Asian immigration in North America during the 1920s, as it was used as food source by these communities. Corbicula fluminea, along with other exotic bivalve larvae, may be accidentally transported via ballast water or recreational boaters. Furthermore, the species is common in the aquarium trade and can be intentionally or unintentionally released in the wild by aquarists. Life history advantages Corbicula fluminea enjoys several physiological capabilities which are advantageous in promoting its invasion of novel lentic/lotic environments including: Rapid individual growth rate Short time to reach sexual maturity Short lifespan paired with high fecundity Fast rate of water filtration for suspension feeding Ability to broadcast gametes over a broad area by utilizing water flow (in rivers) Tolerance of a wide variety of substrate/habitat types Corbicula fluminea is a self-fertilizing, simultaneous hermaphrodite which can asexually produce internally-brooded, semi-buoyant planktonic larvae when spermiogenesis is induced at temperatures above 10