[Coral-List] Exotic vs. Invasive.

[John Ware]

Dear List,

Ken Marks recent post concerning Tubastraea micranthus reminded me of an 
incident that occurred on a recent trip to Bonaire.  A divemaster was 
bemoaning the "invasion" of lionfish.  When I mentioned that the "poster 
coral" for Bonaire (Tubastraea sp) was invasive, I was severely 
chastised.  Lionfish were "invasive", Tubastraea was "exotic".

I noted that Ken Marks used both "exotic" and "invasion" in his e-mail. 
 I had never thought about the distinction before.

After Googling around a bit, I concluded that if the species under 
consideration was sort of cute, it was "exotic".  If it was ugly, it was 
"invasive".  

While that is a vast oversimplification, I wonder if the coral-reef 
community distinguishes "exotic" from "invasive" and, if so, is there a 
precise definition of the difference?

John

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    *                      John R. Ware, PhD                    *
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