Aquatic Invasive Species Fact Sheets

Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) are non-native plants, animals, or pathogens that cause harm to the environment, the economy, native species, and human or animal health. Preventing their spread is important because once introduced, these species disrupt ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, and cost communities huge amounts of time, money, resources, and lost revenue.

Pennsylvania Sea Grant has developed numerous fact sheets designed for anyone interested in learning more about specific species types and the threats they pose. We’ve also developed tip sheets, specific to activities known to increase the spread of AIS, with recommendations to help stop the spread of aquatic invaders.

Fact sheets are organized alphabetically by category. The content for each fact sheet is available as a web page and many are available as downloadable PDF’s. All fact sheets are being redesigned to meet accessibility standards and will be available as soon as possible. If the fact sheet you’d like is not yet available for download, please contact us and we’ll provide you with the most recent version.