The Golden Mussel or Limnoperna fortunei is an invading organism that has caused much damage to water supply systems and hydroeletric power plants, and more recently, it is also causing damage to boat transportation in the "Pantanal" waters of Mato Grosso. The present work, a laboratory and field study of the detachment force of the Golden Mussel, was carried on aiming at the understanding of its relationship with surface free energy and its components. The materials were chosen to cover an ample range of surface free energy, including materials with low surface energy, as polymers, and high surface energy, as the metallic materials. Qualitatively, the performance of stainless steel and copper, tested in the laboratory and field, are consistent with respect to literature results. A linear correlation between surface free energy and mussel detachement force was verified but with a poor correlation coefficient, the strongest effect being due to hydrogen bonds.
Limnoperna fortunei; Golden Mussel; antifoulings surfaces
