Once sold as a landscape ornamental, it now covers more than 700,000 acres in central and south Florida. Thrives in areas disturbed by dredging and filling. Brazilian Pepper is in the same family as poison oak. Because it is not cold-hardy, Tampa Bay is the northern limit of its range on the West Coast of Florida.

Found in sandhills,flatwoods, grasslands, swamps and river margins throughout the state. Its rough edges will slice the skin. Cogon grass produces chemicals that inhibit growth of other plants. Its use as a packing material has probably contributed to its spread.

A stubborn vine that climbs high into tree canopies and engulfs surrounding vegetation. It can quickly grow 60-70 feet in length, which is long enough to overtop (and shade-out) tall trees. A member of the yam family (Dioscoreaceae), air potato produces large numbers of aerial tubers, potato-like growths attached to the stems. These are very bitter and not edible.

Water spinach is an immersed plant. Like others in the morning-glory family, water spinach is a vine. The long viney stem of water spinach distinguishes it from other aquatic plants. Its vines can reach nine feet long. It may have been brought in to Florida as an ornamental plant, or by immigrants to cultivate as a food plant.

First discovered in Tampa Bay in 1999, this bright green mussel was probably a hitchhiker in ballast water. It attaches itself to water pipes, docks, bridge pilings and other hard surfaces, and has now been found as far south as Charlotte Harbor.

This non-native fish has been found in canals, ditches, streams and ponds near Tampa and Miami. The species is spreading and has the capability of invading and harming freshwater ecosystems throughout the southeast, including the Everglades ecosystem. Its introduction into Florida was probably the result of either an aquarium release or a fish farm escape or release, or a combination of all of the above. Because they are generalized predators, this species is a potential threat to native fishes, frogs, and aquatic invertebrates.

Marine toads have been described as "the most introduced amphibian in the world." They have been introduced throughout the world as a control agent for insects that damage sugarcane. Marine toads were introduced successfully to Florida through an accidental release by an importer at the Miami International Airport in 1955. The marine toad secretes toxins from its skin glands that may seriously sicken or kill dogs or cats that bite them. Marine toads are well adapted for living in urban areas and are quite common in suburban areas over their introduced range in Florida, where they can frequently be seen hopping along sidewalks or resting near suburban canals. In Tampa Bay, they are found in high numbers in the watersheds of Lake Tarpon and the Hillsborough River.