Top Results for Invasive

The warty comb jelly, Mnemiopsis leidyi, is a transparent marine ctenophore native to Atlantic coastal waters of the Americas. It moves using rows of beating cilia and feeds on zooplankton, fish eggs, and larvae; despite its jellylike body, it is not a true jellyfish. Introduced into the Black Sea b...

The long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) is a large diadematid echinoid found on rocky reefs along southeastern Australia, including New South Wales, Tasmania, and the eastern Bass Strait. Where urchin densities rise, grazing can remove kelp and other macroalgae, forming barrens that r...

Caulerpa taxifolia is a species of green algae belonging to the Chlorophyta group. It’s notable for its rapid growth and aggressive spread when introduced into new environments, particularly becoming an invasive problem in coastal ecosystems like the Mediterranean Sea. Originally cultivated as an aq...

The Chinese mitten crab is a medium-sized freshwater crustacean native to the coastal rivers and estuaries of East Asia, including China and Korea. It is easily distinguished by the dense patches of dark hair on its claws, which resemble mittens. The species is catadromous, meaning it migrates from...

Craspedacusta sowerbii is a small freshwater hydrozoan commonly called the freshwater jellyfish. Native to the Yangtze River basin in China, it has been introduced widely and recorded on every inhabited continent, often in lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and slow-moving water. Its life cycle includes a ti...

Rhopilema nomadica, commonly called the nomad jellyfish, is a large rhizostome jellyfish native to tropical waters of the Indian Ocean. It entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and was recorded off Israel in the 1970s, subsequently spreading through parts of the eastern Mediterranean. Sea...

"Caulerpa racemosa" is a species of green seaweed in the family Caulerpaceae, recognizable by its distinct grape-like clusters of spherical branchlets. Native to shallow tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, it has become a notable invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea since the 1990s. The...

The spotted jellyfish, Phyllorhiza punctata, is a large scyphozoan jellyfish native to the western Pacific, recognizable by the pale spots scattered across its rounded bell. It contains symbiotic algae in its tissues and also filter-feeds on zooplankton, using multiple oral arms rather than long mar...

Zoropsis spinimana, commonly known as the false wolf spider, is a large hunting spider originally native to the Mediterranean region. Unlike many spiders, it does not spin webs to catch prey, but rather actively wanders and hunts at night. The species is notable for its expansion beyond its native r...

The Brown Widow (*Latrodectus geometricus*) is a species of venomous spider belonging to the Theridiidae family, originally native to Africa but now established in pantropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It is closely related to the black widow but can be distinguished by its mottled brown an...

The greenhouse frog (*Eleutherodactylus planirostris*) is a small terrestrial amphibian native to Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Bahamas. It has become a prominent invasive species in other regions, notably Florida, Hawaii, and Central America, frequently spreading through the commercial plant tr...

Asparagopsis armata is a red alga (Rhodophyta) native to Australia and the Southern Hemisphere that became established as an invasive species along European Atlantic coastlines by the early 20th century and is now widely naturalized there. It is commonly known as 'harpoon weed' due to the barbed, ho...

Gonionemus vertens, known as the clinging jellyfish, is a small hydrozoan native to the North Pacific Ocean that has since established populations in the North Atlantic. Reaching roughly the size of a coin, this species attaches itself to underwater structures like seagrass and kelp using specialize...

Colpomenia peregrina is a species of brown macroalgae belonging to the order Scytosiphonales. It is widely distributed and commonly found in intertidal zones around the world, where it grows attached to rocks or other algae. The species is characterized by its small, hollow, and globular thallus, wh...

Muggiaea atlantica is a calycophoran siphonophore, a colonial hydrozoan whose specialized individual units function together as one pelagic organism. It occurs in Atlantic waters and can become abundant in coastal seas when temperature, currents, and food conditions are favorable. Dense populations...

Caulerpa prolifera is a species of siphonous green marine alga native to the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It features creeping stolons that anchor to the seafloor, from which emerge upright, flat, oval-shaped fronds resembling seagrass leaves. The organism is a single multinucle...

The harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, is a highly variable ladybird species native to eastern Asia. It was introduced elsewhere as a biological control agent because both adults and larvae consume aphids, but it subsequently became invasive across parts of Europe, North America, and other regio...

Codium fragile is a marine green alga with dark green, forked, cylindrical branches whose soft, spongy texture results from its siphonous internal structure. Native to parts of the Pacific, several subspecies have spread widely beyond their original ranges and can colonize rocky shores, shellfish be...

The giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis, is a large solitary bee native to eastern Asia and a member of the family Megachilidae. Females use existing cavities, including holes in dead wood and artificial nesting blocks, and construct brood cells with resin and other plant material. The species h...

Euglandina rosea, the Rosy Wolf Snail, is a fast-moving predatory land snail native to the southeastern United States, particularly Florida and the Gulf Coast. It hunts other snail species by following their slime trails, using an elongated body adapted for pursuing prey. It was deliberately introdu...

Achatina fulica, the Giant African Land Snail, is a large terrestrial pulmonate gastropod native to East Africa, capable of reaching lengths of up to 20 centimeters. It is a highly prolific breeder and an opportunistic feeder, consuming a wide variety of plant material. Listed among the world's most...

Blackfordia virginica is a hydrozoan in the family Blackfordiidae that alternates between a small hydroid stage and a conspicuous planktonic medusa stage. It is regarded as native to the Black Sea and Sea of Azov and has been reported as introduced to brackish estuaries and coastal waters in North A...

Marivagia stellata is a scyphozoan jellyfish first formally described in 2010 from Israel's Mediterranean coast. Its description established Marivagia as a distinct genus within the order Rhizostomeae, a group that includes rhizostome jellyfish. The species has biogeographic interest because its ori...

The Asian paddle crab (Charybdis japonica) is a swimming crab native to coastal waters of East Asia and other parts of the western Pacific. Like other members of the family Portunidae, it has a flattened final pair of legs that function as paddles, allowing it to swim efficiently. It inhabits marine...

Orange hawkweed, Hieracium aurantiacum, is a perennial herb in the daisy family, native to Europe and introduced to North America and other regions. It forms a basal rosette of hairy leaves and usually sends up a leafless, hairy flowering stem topped by clusters of vivid orange to reddish-orange flo...

Maeotias marginata is a hydrozoan medusa in the family Olindiidae that lives in low-salinity and brackish water. Its native range is in the Pontocaspian region around the Black and Caspian seas, and the species has also been recorded as an introduced organism in the San Francisco Estuary, where it o...

The Apple Snail, Pomacea canaliculata, is a large freshwater gastropod native to South America. It has been introduced to parts of Asia and other regions, where it can damage rice and other aquatic crops by feeding on young plants. The species is also recognized by its conspicuous egg masses laid ab...

Moerisia lyonsi is a small hydrozoan jellyfish in the order Limnomedusae. It was described from Lake Manzala, a brackish lagoon in Egypt, and has subsequently been recorded from coastal lagoons and estuaries on more than one continent. Its occurrence in low-salinity transitional waters distinguishes...

The Cuban Treefrog, Osteopilus septentrionalis, is a large hylid tree frog native to Cuba, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. It is the largest tree frog found in Florida, where introduced populations were first confirmed in the 1920s and have spread across much of the peninsula. The species is mos...