invertebrate

"It clogs up all that invertebrate life on the bed of the river and it means the fish are not getting the food they require."

The greater flamingo's pink colouring comes from a diet high in carotenoids - pigments found in algae and invertebrates such as shrimp.

“It sharpens our focus on what it might take to reintroduce these animals in a way that is thoughtful, informed, and sustainable,” said Johnathan Casey, the aquarium’s curator of fish and invertebrates.

The parasitic fungus species belongs to a group that infects their invertebrate hosts and takes control before killing them as part of their spore-spreading mechanisms.

Some invertebrates can live for thousands of years, and the oldest known sea sponges have been dated to be 18,000 years old, Levin said.