One of Malta’s most unique animal species, one which is not found anywhere else on this planet and was even immortalised in the country’s old currency, could end up being wiped out for good, along with a number of other animals. And it’s all down to an alien invasion that’s not even the only one hitting the islands.

Local specialists have long sounded the alarm on the Red Swamp Crayfish, an alien species which has not only dramatically changed the ecological dynamics of “symbolic haven” Chadwick Lakes, but is also “on the doorstep of wiping out Malta’s endemic freshwater crab”, the tiny and beloved qabru, from Malta’s valleys.

“These crayfish are not only destroying native food webs, but also undermining embankments through extensive burrowing activity,” new observations led by Arnold Sciberras, Nick Dobbs and Kristofer Mogyorossy warns, saying Chadwick Lakes has gone from “a model of habitat restoration and biodiversity enhancement” to being “overrun by non-native fauna and flora that are wiping out local species and destabilising the ecosystem”.

Arnold Sciberras, along with Professor Alan Deidun and a number of other naturalists, actually identified four other alien crayfish species in Malta’s valleys, but highlighted the Red Swamp derivation as a concern because of its characteristic of being “a voracious, hardy species that preys on everything from tadpoles to aquatic vegetation”.