An official website of the United States government.

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites always use a .gov or .mil domain. Before sharing sensitive information online, make sure you’re on a .gov or .mil site by inspecting your browser’s address (or “location”) bar.

This site is also protected by an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate that’s been signed by the U.S. government. The https:// means all transmitted data is encrypted — in other words, any information or browsing history that you provide is transmitted securely.

National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Home / Aquatic Invasives / Aquatic Invertebrates / Killer Shrimp

Killer Shrimp

View all resources
Killer shrimp
Killer shrimp - Photo by S. Giesen; NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
Scientific Name: 

Dikerogammarus villosus (Sowinsky, 1894) (CABI)

Common Name: 
Killer shrimp
Native To: 

Eastern Europe (NAS Database)

Date of U.S. Introduction: 

Not introduced

Means of Introduction: 

Could enter the U.S. through ballast water discharge (NAS Database)

Impact: 

In Europe, killer shrimp populations have caused significant ecological disruption by reducing biodiversity (NAS Database)

Current U.S. Distribution: 
Not currently established

Images

Google Images - Killer shrimp
Google.

Videos

YouTube - #AlienInvaders: Killer Shrimp

Google. YouTube; Alien Invaders.

Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source. Or, to display all related content view all resources for Killer Shrimp.

Partnership
GLANSIS - Killer Shrimp
DOC. NOAA. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory; DOI. USGS. Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
Invaders Factsheet: Killer Shrimp
Ontario's Invading Species Awareness Program (Canada).
Invasive Species Compendium - Dikerogammarus villosus
CAB International.
Non-native Species Information: Killer Shrimp
Great Britain Non-Native Species Secretariat.
Federal Government
Killer Shrimp (Dikerogammarus villosus) Ecological Risk Screening Summary (Sep 2017) (PDF | 1.25 MB)

DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.

See also: Ecological Risk Screening Summaries for more species summaries

State and Local Government
Michigan Invasive Species - Killer Shrimp
Michigan.gov.
Professional
Killer Shrimp
Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council (Michigan).
Meet the Species - Killer Shrimp

Invasive Species Centre (Ontario).

Citations

  • CABI. Invasive Species Compendium. Dikerogammarus villosus. CAB International. [Accessed Mar 5, 2015].

  • Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System and Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database. Fact Sheet - Killer Shrimp. USGS, Gainesville, FL. [Accessed Jul 19, 2016].