Warming water temperatures due to climate change could expand the range of many native species of tropical fish, including the invasive and poisonous lionfish, according to a study of 40 species along rocky and artificial reefs off North Carolina by researchers from NOAA and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
![An invasive species, such as the lionfish, is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native. (Image credit: NOAA) An invasive species, such as the lionfish, is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native.](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_width_1275/public/legacy/image/2019/Jun/lionfish.jpg?itok=rIU9MPSz)
An invasive species, such as the lionfish, is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native. (Image credit: NOAA)