California's Invasive Species

WANTED

green crab
Carcinus maenas
Alias: Green Crab
  • Native of Europe
  • Powerful claws crush native crabs and mussels
  • Voracious eater...including its own young
California's Invasive Species

WANTED

American bullfrog
Lithobates catesbeianus
Alias: American Bullfrog
  • Native to the Midwest and East
  • Carries a fungus that creates skin disease in native frogs
  • Will eat anything it can fit into its (rather wide) mouth
California's Invasive Species

WANTED

black mustard
Dreissena rostriformis
Alias: Quagga mussel
  • Native of Ukraine
  • Filter phytoplankton, altering the aquatic food web
  • They clog water intake pipes and foul water transport systems
California's Invasive Species

WANTED

black mustard
Brassica nigra
Alias: Black mustard
  • Native to Eurasia but now naturalized
  • Produces a chemical that prevents native plants from germinating
  • Pretty... but it’s a weed
California's Invasive Species

WANTED

Nutria
Myocastor coypus
Alias: Nutria
  • Native to South America
  • Treats wetlands plant systems like a salad bar
  • Pronounced overbite; orange teeth, parted in the middle

Source: California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

Credit: Erica Yee/Julie Cart/Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters