MMC
04-28-2012, 11:47 PM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A big increase in reports of Asian tiger shrimp along the U.S. Southeast coast and in the Gulf of Mexico has federal biologists worried the species is encroaching on native species' territory.
Reports of tiger shrimp in U.S. waters rose from a few dozen a year — 21 in 2008, 47 in 2009 and 32 in 2010 — to 331 last year, from North Carolina to Texas.
And those are just the numbers reported to the government.
The increase "is the first indication that we may be undergoing a true invasion of Asian tiger shrimp," he said.
Subtle differences in the DNA can indicate whether they have meandered in on ocean currents from the Caribbean or West Africa, where tiger shrimp are farmed, arrived in ballast water of ocean-going ships, or have taken up housekeeping in U.S. waters.
FulleHe said it's also hard to predict their possible effects. r said she thinks ballast water is the least likely explanation because they're known to be in the wild in areas where they could drift to the United States and because the threat appears widely spread. A map shows most of the reports are from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, with some in Florida and a few in Texas.
Freshwater invasive species have been well studied, but so far lionfish are the only known marine invasive species in U.S. waters, he said.....snip~
http://news.yahoo.com/us-tiger-shrimp-sightings-worry-scientists-222133451.html
They say these shrimps can be farmed and are edible.....but are not really part of the American diet. Whereas this species is more apt to be in the Caribbean or around Africa. Although one scientist brang up the issue of Hurricanes pushing these guys up to the US. Looks like this type of Shrimp eats other shrimp.
Reports of tiger shrimp in U.S. waters rose from a few dozen a year — 21 in 2008, 47 in 2009 and 32 in 2010 — to 331 last year, from North Carolina to Texas.
And those are just the numbers reported to the government.
The increase "is the first indication that we may be undergoing a true invasion of Asian tiger shrimp," he said.
Subtle differences in the DNA can indicate whether they have meandered in on ocean currents from the Caribbean or West Africa, where tiger shrimp are farmed, arrived in ballast water of ocean-going ships, or have taken up housekeeping in U.S. waters.
FulleHe said it's also hard to predict their possible effects. r said she thinks ballast water is the least likely explanation because they're known to be in the wild in areas where they could drift to the United States and because the threat appears widely spread. A map shows most of the reports are from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, with some in Florida and a few in Texas.
Freshwater invasive species have been well studied, but so far lionfish are the only known marine invasive species in U.S. waters, he said.....snip~
http://news.yahoo.com/us-tiger-shrimp-sightings-worry-scientists-222133451.html
They say these shrimps can be farmed and are edible.....but are not really part of the American diet. Whereas this species is more apt to be in the Caribbean or around Africa. Although one scientist brang up the issue of Hurricanes pushing these guys up to the US. Looks like this type of Shrimp eats other shrimp.