#Marine Ecology Progress Series

A recent study published by the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa discovered that Hawaiian tiger cowries are voracious predators of marine invasive species like alien sponges. The study showed that the Hawaiian tiger cowries would be effective at controlling alien sponges if they were common enough but due to increased demand for its shells, the number of Native Hawaiian sea snails has precipitously declined due to overharvesting.