Geographic Range

Geographic Range

Although the majority of ctenophores, up to 75%, live in warm waters, they are found globally in marine environments, including in Arctic seas, where certain species are found in abundance. Species of this phylum are native globally; however, they may be locally invasive. In one famous case, the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi was accidentally introduced to the Black Sea in the early 1980s; within 10 years, it had destroyed the fishing industry in the entire region, outcompeting native planktonic fishes and disrupting the food chain. (Brusca and Brusca, 2003; Mills, 2010; Shiganova, 1998; Wrobel, 2012)

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