New predators and poisonous fish off Israel's coast: scientists' warning

Scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed a predictive model identifying fish species from the Red Sea that may next invade the Mediterranean. The list of most likely candidates includes the starry pufferfish, containing a deadly toxin, the cinnabar goatfish, and the yellowspotted trevally. The study was published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have presented a predictive model capable of forecasting which fish species from the Red Sea will next penetrate the Mediterranean Sea. The team, led by doctoral student Shahar Chaikin and Professor Jonathan Belmaker, analyzed hundreds of hours of video footage captured by underwater stereo cameras with bait at depths ranging from 5 to 150 meters off the coast of the Gulf of Eilat and Israel's Mediterranean shores. After analyzing the behavior of 179 fish populations, the scientists compiled a list of three most likely candidates for future invasion: the starry pufferfish, containing the deadly toxin tetrodotoxin; the cinnabar goatfish, capable of displacing local fauna; and the yellowspotted trevally, a large active predator. The main factor for successful migration was identified as the species' independence from coral reefs. Since the opening of the Suez Canal over a century and a half ago, more than 120 species have already moved from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and the process is accelerating amid global warming.