Species that are considered high risk have a well-documented history of invasiveness in at least one location globally, and a high or medium climate match to the contiguous United States.
The history of invasiveness of Atherina boyeri is high. Many records of introduction were found. Even allowing for the larger native range, there were still many instances of non-native introductions. The records of demonstrated impacts were significant, such as becoming nearly 50% of the total fish population in an invaded estuary. There are significant impacts predicted if this species reached the Great Lakes. The climate match was high, particularly along the Pacific Coast and the lower Great Lakes. This species has been identified in other efforts as a species of concern for the Great Lakes (Baker et al. 2015). The certainty of assessment is medium. The overall risk assessment category is high.
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High Risk
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