| Peter Del Bosque | 04/30/2012 10:28PM
Invasive species from flora to fauna whether introduced on purpose or by accident often have a negative affect on native wildlife.
An example of an invasive plant species to the U.S. is the Kudzu, an Asian variety of pea. The vine has the ability to cover everything in it's path chocking out trees and shrubs by heavily shading them. This species was introduced into the United States at the Japanese pavilion in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The plant is so voracious, it spreads at a rate of 150,000 acres annually. In this example, it is clear the plant was introduced with good intentions but was carelessly discarded. 
An example of an invasive animal species to the U.S. is the, Asian Carp. All carp found in the U.S. are invasive, but as in the similar case of the Kudzu, the carp were introduced with good intention. The first species of carp, brought to the U.S. in 1831 were not incredibly aggressive. They were widely spread as a food-fish and were also used to keep large commercial ponds clean of vegetation. The Unlike it's closely related Asian-American cousin, Asian carp are highly aggressive. It is not known exactly why these fish were introduced. They could have been illegally planted as game fish or could have been pets that were simply discarded when they were not wanted. In any case, the Asian carp is highly voracious and aggressive, killing native fish species, decimating the vegetation and overpopulating large bodies of water. They also are easily agitated with sound and will dangerously and instinctively throw themselves at anything that is noisy and agitating the water.
With that said, let's get back to our discussion about the Giant Asian Tiger Shrimp. There's a good reason why these particular shrimp are called 'giant.' In fact, these shrimp can easily grow to a foot in length. A foot long shrimp is almost what one would call a freak-of-nature. Despite their freakish-like size, the real threat to U.S. coastal waters isn't their physical size, but the chance they could be a catalyst for spreading disease to native shrimp stock by competing for the same food resources causing native shrimp to become weak and more susceptible to pathogens.
It is still uncertain exactly how the Asian tiger shrimp was introduced, but it is thought that they were either accidentally released in 1988 from a research vessel near South Carolina or accidentally released from a tiger shrimp farm in the United States. Even though it's my opinion that the Asian tiger shrimp was introduced to U.S. waters via one of these avenues, there is still not sufficient data to make a valid claim. I will let you be the judge of that. 
Meanwhile, I feel like having an Asian tiger shrimp cocktail right about now.
Please enjoy the Asian tiger shrimp video down below.
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