Invasive species are a key threat to Australia’s biodiversity. They are damaging to Australia’s unique ecosystems, as well as to the agriculture sector. The highest-risk exotic invasive species have been identified and compiled into the Australia’s Exotic Environmental Pest List (EEPL).
The Exotic Environmental Pest List
Exotic environmental pests, diseases and weeds are those not established in Australia. If these species become established, they could cause significant damage to our environment including our unique native plants, animals and First Nations heritage sites.
In November 2020, the department released the National Priority List of Exotic Environmental Pests, Weeds and Diseases. This is also called the Exotic Environmental Pest List. The list contains 168 exotic species, categorised into 8 biological groups.
- Aquatic animal diseases
- Freshwater invertebrates
- Marine pests
- Native animal diseases (wildlife diseases)
- Plant diseases
- Terrestrial invertebrates
- Vertebrates
- Weeds and freshwater algae
Higher Risk Exotic Environmental Pests
Each biological group on the EEPL contains 17-24 entries. Each entry is either a single species, a genus, or a small set of closely related species. The 5-6 entries in each group with the highest biosecurity risk are included in a list of 42 species called the ‘higher-risk EEPL’.
Complete Exotic Environmental Pest List
The National Priority List of Exotic Environmental Pests, Weeds and Diseases is listed alphabetically per thematic group. To search for a specific pest, select ‘show all’ before using your search function.
| Common Name(s) | Species Name |
|---|---|
| *Bonamiosis | Bonamia ostreae |
| *Crayfish plague | Aphanomyces astaci |
| Grouper iridoviral disease | Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV) and Grouper iridovirus (GIV) (genus Ranavirus) |
| Infectious hematopoietic necrosis | Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) (genus Rhabdovirus) |
| Infectious myonecrosis | Infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) (genus Totivirus) |
| Infectious pancreatic necrosis | Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) (genus Aquabirnavirus) |
| Marteiliosis (Aber disease) | Marteilia refringens |
| *Megalocytivirus | Infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV) and Red sea bream iridovirus (RSIV) (genus Megalocytivirus) |
| Mikrocytosis (Denman Island disease) | Mikrocytos mackini |
| Necrotising hepatopancreatitis | ‘Candidatus Hepatobacter penaei’ |
| Perkinsosis (Dermo disease) | Perkinsus marinus |
| Protozoic whirling disease | Myxobolus cerebralis / Microsporidium takedai |
| Taura syndrome | Taura syndrome virus (TSV) (genus Aparavirus) |
| Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia | Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) (genus Novirhabdovirus) |
| *White spot syndrome | White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) (genus Whispovirus) |
| Withering syndrome (of abalones) | ‘Candidatus Xenohaliotis californiensis’ |
| *Yellow head disease | Yellow head virus genotype-1 (YHV1) (genus Okavirus) |
* indicates a higher risk species.
| Common Name(s) | Species Name |
|---|---|
| *Asian clam | Corbicula fluminea |
| Assassin snail | Clea / Anentome spp. |
| Bloody-red mysid shrimp | Hemimysis anomala |
| Chinese mitten crab | Eriocheir sinensis |
| *Chinese mystery snail and Japanese mystery snail | Cipangopaludina chinensis and C. japonica |
| Danube crayfish / Turkish crayfish | Astacus leptodactylus |
| Freshwater mussel | Cristaria plicata |
| Freshwater snails Biomphalaria genus | Biomphalaria spp. |
| Freshwater snails Bulinus genus | Bulinus spp. |
| Freshwater snails Oncomelania genus | Oncomelania spp. |
| *Golden apple snail and Island apple snail | Pomacea canaliculata and P. maculata |
| Golden mussel | Limnoperna fortunei |
| Horn snail | Indoplanorbis exustus |
| Land snails Radix genus | Exotic Radix spp. |
| Louisiana red crayfish / Red swamp crayfish | Procambarus clarkii |
| Mud snail | Galba truncatula |
| Northern crayfish / Virile crayfish | Orconectes virilis |
| *Quagga mussel and Zebra mussel | Dreissena bugensis and D. polymorpha |
| *Quilted melania | Tarebia granifera |
| Rusty crayfish | Orconectes rusticus |
| Serrate crownsnail | Pyrgophorus platyrachis |
| Signal crayfish | Pacifastacus leniusculus |
| Spinycheek crayfish | Orconectes limosus |
* indicates a higher risk species.
| Common Name(s) | Species Name |
|---|---|
| Asian brackish-water clam / Overbite clam | Potamocorbula amurensis |
| *Asian green mussel | Perna viridis |
| Atlantic oyster drill | Urosalpinx cinerea |
| *Black-striped false mussel | Mytilopsis sallei |
| Brown mussel | Perna perna |
| Brush-clawed shore crab | Hemigrapsus takanoi |
| *Carpet sea squirt | Didemnum vexillum |
| Centric diatom | Chaetoceros concavicornis |
| *Chinese mitten crab | Eriocheir sinensis |
| Comb jelly | Mnemiopsis leidyi |
| Harris’ mud crab | Rhithropanopeus harrisi |
| Japanese shore crab | Hemigrapsus sanguineus |
| Japanese skeleton shrimp | Caprella mutica |
| Japanese wireweed | Sargassum muticum |
| *Lady crab / Asian paddle crab | Charybdis japonica |
| New Zealand green-lipped mussel | Perna canaliculus |
| Rapa whelk | Rapana venosa |
| Red-gilled mudworm | Marenzelleria neglecta |
| Soft shelled clam | Mya arenaria |
| Toxic dinoflagellate | Dinophysis norvegica |
* indicates a higher risk species.
| Common Name(s) | Species Name |
|---|---|
| Avian paramyxovirus-3 (PMV3) and Avian paramyxovirus-5 (PMV5) | Avian paramyxovirus-3 (PMV3) and Avian paramyxovirus-5 (PMV5) |
| Bubonic plague | Yersinia pestis |
| Exotic novel nidovirus strains in reptiles | Exotic novel coronavirus, including python nidovirus (order Nidovirales, family Coronaviridae) |
| Deformed wing virus in bees | Deformed wing virus (DWV) (family Iflaviridae) |
| *Duck viral enteritis / duck plague | Anatid herpesvirus-1 |
| Exotic Flaviviruses (Bagaza and Usutu) | Exotic Flaviviruses – Bagaza virus and Usutu virus |
| Exotic novel herpesviruses of reptiles | Family Herpesviridae, subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae |
| Exotic highly pathogenic avian influenza | Exotic Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAI) |
| Ophidian paramyxovirus (OPMV) / Fer-de-lance virus - infection of snakes | Subfamily Paramyxovirinae, genus Ferlavirus |
| *Pacheco’s disease and internal papillomatosis disease | Psittacid alphaherpesvirus-1 (PsHV-1) |
| Phocine distemper | Phocine distemper virus (PDV) (genus Morbillivirus) |
| *Proventricular dilatation disease | Parrot bornavirus (PaBV) |
| Psittacine pox virus | Psittacine pox virus (PsPoV) (genus Avipoxvirus) |
| Rabies virus | Rabies virus / Rabies lyssavirus (genus Lyssavirus) |
| Screwworm fly | Chrysomya bezziana and Cochliomyia hominivorax |
| Severe Perkinsea infection in frogs | Pathogenic Perkinsea clade of frogs |
| Snake fungal disease | Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola |
| Surra | Trypanosoma evansi |
| *West Nile virus infection | Exotic West Nile virus lineages - other than 1b (WNV Kunjin) |
| *White nose syndrome (of bats) | Pseudogymnoascus destructans |
* indicates a higher risk species.
| Common Name(s) | Species Name |
|---|---|
| Annosus root and butt rot | Heterobasidion annosum |
| Armillaria root rot | Armillaria mellea |
| Blood disease of banana and clove wilt | Ralstonia syzygii |
| *Ceratocystis wilt | Ceratocystis manginecans |
| Ceratocystis wilt | Ceratocystis albifundus |
| Chestnut blight | Cryphonectria parasitica |
| Chrysoporthe canker / Eucalyptus canker | Chrysoporthe austroafricana |
| Coconut lethal yellowing | ‘Candidatus phytoplasma palmae’ |
| Dutch elm disease | Ophiostoma ulmi sensu lato |
| Elm yellows / Elm phloem necrosis | ‘Candidatus phytoplasma ulmi’ |
| *Fusarium wilt | Fusarium euwallaceae |
| Huanglongbing / Citrus greening | ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter africanus’ and ‘Candidatus Liberibacter americanus’ |
| *Myrtle rust (exotic strains) | Austropuccinia psidii – exotic strains |
| Oak wilt | Ceratocystis fagacearum |
| Phytophthora blight | Phytophthora kernoviae |
| *Sudden oak death / Ramorum blight | Phytophthora ramorum |
| Teratosphaeria canker | Teratosphaeria gauchensis |
| *Teratosphaeria leaf blight | Teratosphaeria destructans |
| Teratosphaeria stem canker | Teratosphaeria zuluensis |
| Texas root rot | Phymatotrichopsis omnivora |
| *Xylella | Xylella fastidiosa |
* indicates a higher risk species.
Terrestrial Invertebrates
| Common Name(s) | Species Name |
|---|---|
| Africanised honeybee | Apis mellifera scutellata and its hybrids |
| Annona mealybug / Pineapple mealybug | Dysmicoccus neobrevipes |
| Asian / Yellow-legged hornet | Vespa velutina |
| Asian bee mite | Tropilaelaps clareae |
| Asian bee mite | Tropilaelaps mercedesae |
| *Asian spongy moth | Lymantria dispar (Lymantria dispar asiatica, Lymantria dispar japonica and Lymantria dispar dispar) |
| Brown marmorated stink bug | Halyomorpha halys |
| Cape honeybee | Apis mellifera capensis |
| Common eastern bumblebee | Bombus impatiens |
| Cycad aulacaspis scale | Aulacaspis yasumatsui |
| Delta wasp | Delta pyriforme |
| Dichroplus grasshopper | Dichroplus elongatus and D. maculipennis |
| *Electric ant | Wasmannia auropunctata |
| *Formosan subterranean termite | Coptotermes formosanus |
| *Giant African snail | Achatina fulica |
| Gold dust weevil | Hypomeces squamosus |
| *Harlequin lady beetle/ Multicolored Asian lady beetle | Harmonia axyridis |
| Honey bee tracheal mite | Acarapis woodi |
| Oriental powderpost beetle | Lyctoxylon dentatum |
| Picnic beetle | Glischrochilus fasciatus and G. quadrisignatus |
| *Red imported fire ant | Solenopsis invicta |
| Rosy predator snail | Euglandina rosea |
| Shot hole borer | Euwallacea fornicatus complex |
| Western drywood termite | Incisitermes minor |
* indicates a higher risk species.
Vertebrates
| Common Name(s) | Species Name |
|---|---|
| African pygmy hedgehog | Atelerix albiventris |
| *Asian black-spined toad | Duttaphrynus melanostictus |
| Asian painted frog | Kaloula pulchra |
| *Boa constrictor | Boa constrictor |
| Burmese python | Python bivittatus |
| Chinese carp | Ctenopharyngodon idella |
| *Climbing perch | Anabas testudineus |
| Common snapping turtle | Chelydra serpentina |
| *Corn snake | Pantherophis guttatus |
| Fire bellied newt | Cynops orientalis |
| Flat-tailed house gecko | Hemidactylus platyurus |
| Green iguana | Iguana iguana |
| Grey squirrel | Sciurus carolinensis |
| House crow | Corvus splendens |
| Nile tilapia | Oreochromis niloticus |
| Oriental garden lizard | Calotes versicolor |
| Pacific rat | Rattus exulans |
| *Red-eared slider turtle | Trachemys scripta elegans |
| *Silver carp | Hypophthalmichthys molitrix |
| Snakeheads | Channa spp. (including Channa striata) |
| Stoat | Mustela erminea |
| Veiled chameleon | Chamaeleo calyptratus |
| Walking catfish | Clarias batrachus |
* indicates a higher risk species.
| Common Name(s) | Species Name |
|---|---|
| Asiatic sand sedge | Carex kobomugi |
| Black sage | Cordia curassavica |
| Black swallow-wort | Vincetoxicum nigrum |
| Brittle naiad | Najas minor |
| Cane tibouchina | Tibouchina herbacea |
| *Didymo | Didymosphenia geminata |
| Halogeton | Halogeton glomeratus |
| Karoo thorn | Vachellia karoo |
| Lagariosiphon | Lagarosiphon major |
| Leafy spurge | Euphorbia esula |
| *Manchurian wildrice | Zizania latifolia |
| *Mikania | Mikania micrantha |
| *Mouse-ear hawkweed | Pilosella officinarum |
| Nepalese browntop | Microstegium vimineum |
| Portuguese broom | Cytisus striatus |
| Slangbos | Seriphium plumosum |
| South African ragwort | Senecio inaequidens |
| *Spiked pepper | Piper aduncum |
| Water primrose | Ludwigia grandiflora |
| Wiregrass | Ventenata dubia |
* indicates a higher risk species.
For more information
- Read the technical information about the development of the EEPL including criteria
- Contact the Environmental Biosecurity office on acebo@aff.gov.au
Report an exotic environmental pest
You can report an exotic environmental pest at Outbreak.gov.au.
This site also contains up-to-date information on current biosecurity outbreaks.