You may have seen in the news over the past few years that a population of ‘Killer Shrimp’ have begun an invasion of the UK. The title ‘Killer’ is a fitting term, describing the voracious appetite, huge size and deadly behaviour of this animal. It will easily rip open any opposing insect that gets in its way and has been known to make a large range of species extinct.

The Killer Shrimp originates from the ponto-caspian region that is located below Russia. This region incorporates the Black Sea and from here the Killer Shrimp began its invasion across Europe. The UK’s invasion began in 2010 in the quaint countryside of Cambridgeshire where an unsuspecting angler received a visit from the Killer Shrimp. The Killer Shrimp is only about 3cm in size and poses no threat to humans directly. The ecology of affected areas is rapidly declining and resulting in the destruction of native food chain dynamics. Because of the voracious appetite of this organism, it will happily compete with anything that wanders into its territory, removing insects and other small animals that usually feed larger animals such as birds, bats and fish. This behaviour results in the decline of native biodiversity, meaning that a lot of the animals we enjoy to see frolicking in their natural environment may have to move on to new areas to find food.

From here, things can only get worse! Recent studies using bioclimatic models have discovered that around 60% of the UK is a suitable temperature and environment for this invasion to continue. If left unchecked the spread of this species may break down balanced ecosystems all over the country. However, parasitologists are coming to our rescue with an arsenal of great minds and technologies and who knows what miraculous cure they may come up with in the next few crucial years.

In the meantime, the search continues for new populations of Killer Shrimp, to track the progress of the species through the country and hopefully stop it in its tracks. During the search, previously unknown species have been cropping up, a close cousin of the Killer Shrimp, Dikerogammarus haemobaphes has recently been discovered in the UK surprising many ecologists and opening up possibilities that other invaders could be sneaking in under the radar.

Jamie Bojko