Environmental Importance
The Black Sea, located in the Middle East.
Since Ctenophora reproduce quickly and are good predators, they can easily bring down an ecosystem where they have no predators. Which is precisely what happened when a centaphore, Mnemiopsis leidyi, was introduced into the Black Sea by the ballast waters of a ship in the 1980's. In under 10 years, the Mnemiopsis leidyi had caused the Black Sea's ecosystem's fisheries to collapse, putting fisherman in the 6 countries surrounding the Black Sea out of their jobs. The situation has recently come under control since the introduction of a predatory ctenophore into the area. Ctenophora have invaded and collapsed many ecosystems and put many fisherman out of work along the way.