The Lessepsian migration (also called Erythrean invasion) is the
migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
of marine species across the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popula ...
, usually from the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
to the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
, and more rarely in the opposite direction. When the canal was completed in 1869,
fish
Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
,
crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapoda, decapods, ostracoda, seed shrimp, branchiopoda, branchiopods, argulidae, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopoda, isopods, barnacles, copepods, ...
s,
mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
s, and other marine animals and plants were exposed to an artificial passage between the two naturally separate bodies of water, and cross-contamination was made possible between formerly isolated
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
s. The phenomenon is still occurring today. It is named after
Ferdinand de Lesseps
Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps (; 19 November 1805 – 7 December 1894) was a French diplomat and later developer of the Suez Canal, which in 1869 joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas, substantially reducing sailing distances and times ...
, the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
diplomat in charge of the canal's construction.
The migration of
invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...
through the Suez Canal from the
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth.
In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
region has been facilitated by many factors, both
abiotic and
anthropogenic
Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to:
* Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity
Counterintuitively, anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows:
* Human i ...
, and presents significant implications for the
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
health and economic stability of the contaminated areas; of particular concern is the fisheries industry in the
Eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea.
It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to commun ...
. Despite these threats, the phenomenon has allowed scientists to study an invasive event on a large scale in a short period of time, which usually takes hundreds of years in natural conditions.
In a wider context, the term Lessepsian migration is also used to describe any animal migration facilitated by man-made structures, i.e. one which would not have occurred had it not been for the presence of an artificial structure.
Background
The opening of the Suez Canal created the first saltwater passage between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Constructed in 1869 to provide a more direct trade route from Europe to India and the Far East, the canal is long, with a depth of and a width varying between .
Because the surface of the Red Sea is slightly higher in elevation than the Eastern Mediterranean, the canal serves as a
tidal strait by which Red Sea water pours into the Mediterranean. The
Bitter Lakes, which are natural
hypersaline lake
A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride, brines, and other salts, with saline levels surpassing that of ocean water (3.5%, i.e. ).
Specific microbial species can thrive in ...
s that form part of the canal, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the
salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...
of the lakes gradually equalized with that of the Red Sea, the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonize the eastern Mediterranean.
The Red Sea, an extension of the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
, is generally saltier and less nutrient-rich than the Mediterranean, an extension of the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, so Red Sea species, able to tolerate harsh environments, have advantages over Atlantic species in the conditions of the Eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly, most migrations between the two bodies of water are invasions of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean, and relatively few migrations occur in the opposite direction. The construction of the
Aswan High Dam
The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan Lo ...
across the
Nile River
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...
in the 1960s reduced the inflow of fresh water and nutrient-rich silt from the Nile into the eastern Mediterranean, making conditions in the eastern Mediterranean even more like those of the Red Sea, thereby increasing the impact of the invasions and facilitating the occurrence of new ones.
The Red Sea is a profusely abundant tropical marine environment sharing species in common with the eastern Indo-Pacific region, while the Mediterranean is a temperate sea with much lower productivity; the two ecosystems are extremely different in terms of structure and ecology.
The Suez Canal quickly became the main pathway for the introduction of invasive species into the Eastern Mediterranean, having zoogeographic and ecological consequences far beyond what the designers could foresee. The Lessepsian migration includes hundreds of Red Sea and Indo-Pacific species that have colonized and established themselves in the Eastern Mediterranean system, causing
biogeographic changes without precedent in human memory.
The trend is accelerating: to take just the fish, a long-term cross-Basin survey engaged by the
Mediterranean Science Commission
The Mediterranean Science Commission, or CIESM, ( French: ''Commission Internationale pour l'Exploration Scientifique de la Méditerranée'') unites 24 Member States, hundreds of marine Institutes, and thousands of marine researchers from all sh ...
recently documented that in the first twenty years of our century more exotic fish species from the Indo-Pacific Ocean had reached the Mediterranean than during the entire 20th century.
To this day, one can estimate at over 1'000 the number of species - both vertebrates and invertebrates - native to the Red Sea that have been identified in the Mediterranean Sea. Many others are as yet unidentified. From there they have spread even further afield, supplying 95% of
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth.
In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
species that have reached the
Ponto-Caspian seas and increasingly rapidly.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
ian government announced its intentions to deepen and widen the canal, which raised concerns from
marine biologists, fearing this would facilitate the crossing of the canal for additional species, accelerating the invasion of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean. The extension was completed in 2015.
Ecological impacts
Outcompetition of natives
Native ''Argyrosomus regius'' vs. invasive ''Scomberomorus commerson''
A wide-ranging species in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, the meagre ''
Argyrosomus regius'' is a species
indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and was one of the most common commercial fish in the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
. However, this species has since disappeared from local catches, while the
narrow-barred Spanish mackerel ''Scomberomorus commerson'', a known Lessepsian migrant, has dramatically increased in population. Studies performed on this occurrence conclude that, due to similar life histories and diets, this may be an example of an invasive migrant outcompeting a native species and occupying its
niche
Niche may refer to:
Science
*Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development
* Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species
*Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...
.
Native ''Melicertus kerathurus'' vs. invasive prawns
Eight species of invasive
prawn
Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten.
The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...
s from the
Erythraean Sea
The Erythraean Sea ( grc-gre, Ἐρυθρὰ Θάλασσα, ''Erythrà Thálassa'', ."Red Sea") was a former maritime designation that always included the Gulf of Aden and at times other seas between Arabia Felix and the Horn of Africa. Origi ...
have been recorded in the Eastern Mediterranean. These prawns are considered highly prized in
Levantine fisheries, and compose most of the prawn catch off the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, being 6% of total Egyptian landings. However, this high abundance of invasive prawns has led to the decline of a native penaeid prawn, ''
Melicertus kerathurus
''Melicertus kerathurus'', the striped prawn or caramote prawn is a species of tiger prawn from the family Penaeidae which occurs in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea which is an important species in commercial fisheries. It is the typ ...
'', which supported a commercial Israeli fishery throughout the 1950s. Due to outcompetition and its habitat being overrun by these migrants, this native species has since disappeared, with resultant detrimental impacts on the commercial fishery.
Parasitic invaders
The invasion of new Red Sea species into the Mediterranean has also facilitated the invasion of their associated parasites, for example the
copepod
Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have ...
''
Eudactylera aspera'', which was found on a spinner shark, ''
Carcharhinus brevipinna'', taken off the coast of
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
. The copepod had originally been described from specimens taken from ''C. brevipinna'' off
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
and its finding in the Mediterranean has arguably confirmed the previously disputed status of ''C. brevipinna'' as a Lessepsian migrant. In addition, parasites originating in the Red Sea have shown an ability to use related native Mediterranean fish species as alternative
hosts
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Host may also refer to:
Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
People
*Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman
*Michel Host ...
; e.g. the copepod ''
Nipergasilus bora'' was known to parasitise the grey mullets ''
Mugil cephalus'' and ''
Liza carinata'' in the Red Sea, both taxa having been recorded as Lessepsian migrants, and was subsequently found parasitising the native Mediterranean mullets ''
Chelon aurata'' and ''
Chelon labrosus''.
Sometimes, the invasion of these parasites may have the effect of reducing the competitive advantages that Red Sea invaders have in the Mediterranean. For example, the Indo-Pacific swimming crab ''
Charybdis longicollis'' was first recorded in the Mediterranean in the mid-1950s and became dominant in silty and sandy substrates off the coast of Israel, making up to 70% of the total
biomass
Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bio ...
in these habitats. Until 1992, none of the specimens collected was infected with the parasite ''
Heterosaccus dollfusi'', but in that year, a few infected crabs were collected. The parasite is a
barnacle
A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosiv ...
which
desexes its host. Within three years, the parasite had spread to southern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
and 77% of the crabs collected in
Haifa Bay were infected. This rapid increase and high infection rate is attributed to the extremely high population density of the host and the year-round reproduction of the parasite. One effect of this was that the population of the Mediterranean native swimming crab ''
Liocarcinus vernalis'' recovered somewhat.
Species displacements
Fisheries
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...
have been heavily affected. The goldband goatfish, ''
Upeneus moluccensis
''Upeneus moluccensis'', the goldband goatfish, golden-banded goatfish or Moluccan goatfish, is a species of Indo-Pacific goatfish from the red mullet and goatfish family, the Mullidae. It is widespread in the warmer waters of the Indian and Paci ...
'', was first recorded in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 1930s and has since established an abundant population. Following the warm winter of 1954–1955, it increased to 83% of the Israeli catch, replacing the native
red mullet, which also affected the Egyptian fishery, being 3% of their total landings. The high water temperatures of this unusually warm winter may have resulted in the poor survival of red mullet juveniles, which may have allowed the
goatfish population to expand into the opened niche.
Native mullet have since been displaced into deeper, cooler waters, where Lessepsian migrants consist of only 20% of the catch, whereas in shallower, warmer waters, this invasive species takes up a staggering 87% of the catch.
From these data, the Lessepsian migrants apparently have not adapted to the more temperate environment of the deeper areas of the basin, but have established dominant populations in the habitats most similar to the tropical sea habitats from which they came. The population of ''
Caesio varilineata'' (a fusilier fish, Caesionidae), recently reported from the eastern
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
, may develop in a similar fashion. along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, over half of
trawl catches are Lessepsians. Worse, full substitution has not occurred total fishery productivity has also been decreased by the invaders.
Food web phase shift
The marbled spinefoot (''
Siganus rivulatus'') and dusky spinefoot (''
Siganus luridus''), both
indigenous Red Sea
rabbitfish, were first recorded off the coast of Mandate Palestine in 1924. In only a few decades, these schooling, herbivorous fish were able to settle in a range of habitats forming abundant populations, to the extent that George and Athanassiou, in a paper published in 1967, reported: "The millions of young abound over rocky outcropping grazing on the relatively abundant early summer
algal
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular micr ...
cover". By 2004, a study on these species found that they comprise 80% of the abundance of herbivorous fish in the shallow coastal sites of
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
.
They have been able to create marked phase shifts within the food web on multiple levels. Prior to the arrival of these Lessepsian migrants, the herbivores filled a small ecological role within the
Eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea.
It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to commun ...
system. Therefore, with such a high influx of herbivorous species in a small period of time, this phenomenon has normalised the
food web, increasing the rate at which algae are consumed and serving as a major prey item for large predators.
Not only are these Red Sea migrants having a huge impact on this ecosystem, they also are affecting fisheries, as well, by outcompeting native fish of high commercial value, such as the seabream ''
Boops boops''.
A
nonindigenous species of mussel – ''
Brachidontes pharaonis'' – from the Indo-Pacific has also proliferated. This mussel, which has a thicker shell than that of the native mussel, has created a change in predation patterns, as well, since they are more difficult to consume.
Anti-Lessepsian migration
Only a comparatively few species have colonised the Red Sea from the Mediterranean, and these are referred to as anti-Lessepsian migrants. As the predominant flow of the canal is from south to north, this acts against the southward movement of Mediterranean species, and as stated above, the Red Sea has higher salinity, fewer nutrients, and a much more diverse biota than the Eastern Mediterranean. Some of the anti-Lessepsian migrants such as the
sea star
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish a ...
''
Sphaerodiscus placenta'' are found only in specialised habitats such as the lagoon of ElBilaiyim, which lies south of the southern entrance to the Suez Canal, but is much more saline than the surrounding waters of the
Gulf of Suez
The Gulf of Suez ( ar, خليج السويس, khalīǧ as-suwais; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of ...
.
The
sea slug
Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary tim ...
''
Biuve fulvipunctata'' was originally described from waters around Japan and is widespread in the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific. It was first identified in the Mediterranean in 1961, and was seen in the Red Sea in 2005, most likely as a result of anti-Lessepsian migration.
Among the fish species that have been confirmed as anti-Lessepsian migrants are
peacock blenny (''Salaria pavo''),
''
Solea aegyptiaca'',
Mediterranean moray (''Muraena helena''), the
rock goby
The rock goby (''Gobius paganellus'') is a small coastal goby of eastern Atlantic waters, from Scotland to Senegal.Miller P.J. (1986) Gobiidae. In: Whitehead P.J.P., Bauchot M.-L., Hureau J.-C., Nielsen J., Tortonese E. (eds.) Fishes of the Nort ...
(''Gobius paganellus''),
the meagre (''
Argyrosomus regius''),
the
comber
Comber ( , , locally ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies south of Newtownards, at the northern end of Strangford Lough. It is situated in the townland of Town Parks, the civil parish of Comber and the historic barony of Ca ...
(''Serranus cabrilla''),
European seabass
The European bass (''Dicentrarchus labrax'') is a primarily ocean-going fish native to the waters off Europe's western and southern and Africa's northern coasts, though it can also be found in shallow coastal waters and river mouths during the s ...
(''Dicentrarchus labrax''), and
spotted seabass
The spotted seabass (''Dicentrarchus punctatus'') is a species of temperate bass native to marine and brackish waters of the coastal eastern Atlantic Ocean from the English Channel to the Canary Islands and Senegal, as well as through the Me ...
(''Dicentrarchus punctatus'').
Factors facilitating Lessepsian migrant colonisation and expansion
Aswan Dam
Impact of Lessepsian migrants on system may be heavier due to a major
anthropogenic factor: the construction of the
Aswan Dam
The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan ...
. Before construction, the
Nile River
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...
was able to deeply influence the marine environment of the Eastern Mediterranean, discharging a high tonnage of nutrient-rich water. This resulted in a high abundance of phytoplankton in the delta which had a beneficial influence on the productivity in the surrounding sea, and attracted large schools of sardines, resulting in a highly lucrative commercial fishery. After the dam's completion in 1964, this dumping of nutrients into the Mediterranean diminished, and with it this productivity, leading to a sharp decrease in fish populations, namely sardines, which ultimately led to the collapse of the
sardine
"Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the It ...
fishery. As a result, the Egyptian purse-seine fishing industry today takes only 10% of the pre-dam catch, although this may also be due to the influence of dispersion of the Red Sea invasives. The freshwater discharge of the Nile could have been a natural barrier for some of the migrants in their movement into the Eastern Mediterranean.
Climate change
With climate change and the warming of seawater temperature, the
thermophilic Lessepsian migrants may find it easier to reproduce, grow, and survive and give them a distinct advantage over native temperate Mediterranean taxa. Both processes,
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
and the influx of Lessepsian migrants, may impact the already teetering fisheries there by displacing commercially important native species, causing a phase shift in coastal ecosystems and changing seascape patterns. Furthermore, deepening of the warm surface layer is causing massive mortalities of organisms that do not tolerate high temperatures. Through various studies, species have been shown to be now restricted to deeper levels and thrive for shorter periods than in the past. Climate change is also another stressor on this system, the decline of natural barriers that were once in place to prevent many Red Sea natives from migrating to the Mediterranean. Due to global warming, the Eastern Mediterranean is experiencing an increase in temperature and salinity, which is decreasing the hydrological barrier between the two seas, favoring the migrants from the tropic Indo-Pacific which have a warm-water affinity and causing mortality in the temperate Eastern Mediterranean natives. The
Bitter Lakes created a natural salinity barrier within the Suez Canal due to their high deposits of salt, preventing many species from migrating. However, due to the freshening of these lakes, this natural barrier is weakening, allowing a higher migration of invasive species.
Other examples
North America
The
sea lamprey
The sea lamprey (''Petromyzon marinus'') is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish".
Description
The sea lamprey has an eel-like body without paired fins. Its mouth is jawless, ...
reached
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
from the Atlantic Ocean through shipping canals and was recorded for the first time in Lake Ontario in the 1830s, but
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
was a barrier to their further spread. The deepening of the
Welland Canal in 1919 allowed the sea lamprey to bypass the barrier created by the falls, and by 1938, sea lampreys had been recorded in all of the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
.
The
alewife (''Alosa pseudoharengus''), a species of
shad
The Alosinae, or the shads,[Alosinae]
Lake Huron
Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Straits of Mack ...
and
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
, reaching their peak abundance by the 1950s and 1980s.
Europe
The
white-eye bream (''Ballerus sapa'') has invaded the
Vistula River
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
basin by migrating along the
Dnieper–Bug Canal in
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
, which connects the Vistula drainage basin with that of the
Dnieper River
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...
.
Panama
A small number of species have used the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
to move from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and vice versa. Six species of Atlantic fish were recorded on the Pacific side of the canal, and three species of Pacific fish were found on the Atlantic side of the canal. The Atlantic fish included ''
Lupinoblennius dispar'', ''
Hypleurochilus aequipinnis'', ''
Barbulifer ceuthoecus'', ''
Oostethus lineatus'', ''
Lophogobius cyprinoides'' and ''
Omobranchus punctatus'', while the Pacific species moving to the Atlantic included ''
Gnathanodon speciosus''. The
Gatun Lake's freshwater environment forms a barrier to the interchange of marine species.
Shipping containers
Shipping container
A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...
s that fall off cargo ships can provide a new habitat for invasive species, in the same manner as an
artificial reef
An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing.
Many ...
. The ocean floor along shipping lanes is often devoid of hard surfaces needed by some species, and it is theorised that lost containers could act as stepping stones that invasive species could use to travel to new harbours.
See also
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List of Lessepsian migrants
References
External links
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{{Suez Canal
Biological invasions
Fish migrations
Fisheries science
Human impact on the environment
Introduced species
Marine biology
Suez Canal
Environment of the Mediterranean
Invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea