Amazon threat posed by Chinese invader

The mighty Amazon is threatened by the most diminutive of foes - a tiny mussel invader from China.

Since hitching its way to South America in the early 1990s, the golden mussel has claimed new territory at alarming speeds, plowing through indigenous flora and fauna as it has spread to waters in five countries.

Scientists fear the invasive species could make a jump to the Amazon, threatening one of the world's unique ecological systems.