Killer Shrimp Invades the UK!
Travel and nature magazine on 09.15.2010
Written by: David DeFranza.
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| Wanted!! Better dead than alive! The killer Shrimp |
Summary:When the eastern gray squirrel was introduced to the UK during the 19th and 20th centuries, it quickly found a niche— out-pacing the smaller, weaker, and generally less fit native red squirrel throughout England. Since then, conservations have struggled to preserve the populations of red squirrel and the eastern gray has become a symbol of a dangers invasive species
Now, an alien shrimp has appeared in the coastal waters of the UK and experts fear the arrival may be the aquatic equivalent of the gray squirrel introduction. The shrimp, Dikerogammarus villosus, better known as "killer shrimp," is a predator native to freshwater habitats in Eastern Europe. However, it's ability to tolerate a wide range of temperatures, levels of salinity, and oxygen concentrations has allowed it to spread quickly throughout Western Europe. Once established, the killer shrimp hunts voraciously, often killing other crustaceans and small fish without even eating them. As a result, the shrimp has had a significant impact on freshwater ecosystems from Germany to France to the Netherlands and now, the coast of England.
Opinion:
When i first read the article, I was surprised to find out that shrimp can be danger to other species, I was sure that they are one of the only species that just wait to be eaten by others, but i was wrong about shrimp!
I think that these kind of shrimp is a danger to the world because it ruins that balance and biodiversity near the UK shores.
Scientists in the UK should find a way to get rid of these species as fast as they can before they make a great impact on the biodiversity in the area.
Question:
1.what do you think would happen if someone would catch the shrimp and eat it for dinner?
2.How do you think it will impact the UK sea biodiversity?
3.Do you think there are ways to stop the spreading of this shrimp?
That's really insane that such a small, seemingly harmless animal can have such a huge effect on an entire regions freshwater ecosystems. It'll definitely impact the UK sea biodiversity extremely if these new "killer shrimp" start to eat and kill all of the other fish that populate that area. I'm not sure the government could prevent these shrimp from thriving, but I think that they deifinitely need to find a way to control them before things get so far out of hand that they can't anymore. I'm sure that by know they know what invasive species can do to that area paced on the two competing squirrel species, so the UK has to know that they need to do something before it gets as serious as that did.
ReplyDeleteI was really surpised that shrimp can be dangerous and "killer". Things will change in the freshwater ecosystems if the shrimp start to eat the native fish. For ways to stop this, I don't think you can do anything. There animals and will do what they need to survive. We can't capture all the shrimp and take them away. If the government deciedes to do something, it should be beneficial to all species.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that a shrimp can kill all different animals in an ecosystem. If the killer shrimp keeps killing all these other species then there will be a huge problem. Areas in the UK with the killer shrimp will be thrown off balance because the biodiversity will start to decrease. If one species dies due to the killer shrimp killing to many of them then it will affect the whole food web in a negative way.
ReplyDeleteI cant believe that there are shrimp that are hurting an entire ecosystem like this. I thought they were just a tasty meal to grill up on a hot summers day.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is really bad for the ecosystem. I think if someone cought the shrimp and ate it they would be fine, but i dont think that it would stand for a healthy source of nutrition because it just goes around killing other crustaceuns.
I think that it will hurt the biodiversity very much. Especially if it is just going around killing other crustaceans and not even eating them. A prat of me thinks that it could also help some parts of the ocean because it was able to live in extreme environments and special conditions, if other animals addapted to it then mabye it would help the biodiversity over a period of hundreds of years. I think it is like the bully of the sea. I would not want it to happen to the United States' oceans.
I do not think that there would be any way to get rid of these shrimp without hurting other sea life. One way we could get rid of them would be to over fish them but other fish and crustaceans would also be hurt in the process. I hope that the UK ocean life will not be impacted too negatively and would heal in the future.