With a name like golden mussels, it may seem like the freshwater bivalve now making headlines in California belongs in the golden state. But the species recently found in the Port of Stockton of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is hundreds of miles away from its native habitat.

Golden mussels, an invasive species that officials across the country have been worried about for years, invaded North America for the first time through the Port of Stockton.

Water officials around Lake Tahoe are on high alert after an invasive species of mussel was found near Stockton and for the first time in North America, according to the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program.

The tiny freshwater mollusks, which have already laid siege to waterways of southern South America, were found at Rough and Ready Island, near Stockton.