Introduction
Invasive species are continually documented as a major risk to ecosystem health and worldwide biodiversity. Invasive marine fish introductions are still considered relatively rare and historically the environmental effects are often discounted. This is different from historically famous invasive species such as the zebra mussels in The Great Lakes, which caused well-documented harmful economic and environmental effects.
While these are considered rare, they have been documented, with the Indo-pacific lionfish having been documented recently along the southeastern region of the US. Lionfish are identified by their red venomous spines, and are known to be capable of quick reproduction and spreading their eggs and larvae expansively.
Invasive species are continually documented as a major risk to ecosystem health and worldwide biodiversity. Invasive marine fish introductions are still considered relatively rare and historically the environmental effects are often discounted. This is different from historically famous invasive species such as the zebra mussels in The Great Lakes, which caused well-documented harmful economic and environmental effects.
While these are considered rare, they have been documented, with the Indo-pacific lionfish having been documented recently along the southeastern region of the US. Lionfish are identified by their red venomous spines, and are known to be capable of quick reproduction and spreading their eggs and larvae expansively.