While there is no shortage of threats facing Israel and Europe right now, climate change may have introduced a new one: the rabbitfish (a.k.a the Aras).
The venomous aquatic invader comes in four sub-species, two of which are currently found in the Mediterranean, Tel Aviv University Zoologist Dr. Menachem Goren explained to the Jerusalem Post.
The first and most common, known as the marble spinefoot, was first recorded on Israeli shorelines over 200 years ago in 1924. The second, the dusky spinefoot, was found along Israeli shores in 1955 after traveling through the Suez Canal.
While the fish has been long recorded in Israel now, the population has dramatically increased in recent years as a result of climate change, spreading as far into Europe as France, Dr. Goren explained. The dusky spinefoot, in particular, is less sensitive to cold waters, making its movements to Europe much easier.
Both subspecies are herbivores, eating up much of the Mediterranean’s green algae and seagrass, the environment used for cover by native fish and crustaceans.
“The fish is a very efficient grazer,” Dr. Goren explained. “So it really cleans the surface of the rocks so it really denies shelter to other fishes, especially the young ones.”
There is a type of grouper that feeds on the venomous fish, but it has been unable to fully eliminate the invasive species, which breeds at an immense speed.
In addition to having incisor-like teeth, the fish’s venomous spines make it difficult prey.
The fish’s appetite also threatens sea urchins, which could potentially devastate certain European economies which rely on the harvesting of the shellfish, often considered to be a delicacy. Spain and Italy are at particular risk, Dr. Goren explained.
Bringing other non-invasive species
The invader may also bring with it other non-invasive species, as research suggests the fish has eaten and later excreted live ichthyochory into new marine environments, according to 2020 research published by the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
The fish’s flesh carries ciguatoxins, which can cause ciguatera poisoning if ingested. These toxins are temprature stable and so cannot be destroyed by cooking or freezing the fish, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Eating contaminated fish can result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, paraesthesia of lips, tongue and extremities, cold allodynia, a metallic taste in the mouth, arthralgia, myalgia, pruritus without urticaria or erythema, muscle weakness, blurred vision, painful intercourse, hypotension, bradycardia and death in extremely rare cases.