Though tasty with lemon and garlic butter, Asian tiger shrimp are spreading through the Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Seaboard and menacing those areas' ecosystems.

The crustaceans can measure up to 13 inches long and weigh nearly a pound, with dark and white stripes circling their bodies. They can be very disruptive to the Gulf's ecosystem, says James Morris, a marine ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, N.C.

via Asian tiger shrimp invade U.S. waters - USATODAY.com. (see Giant Asian tiger prawn invade Gulf waters - CBS News)

Ed. Note: The NOAA Beaufort laboratory is part of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.