The ever-increasing salinity of the Lower Murray has enabled the sea-dwelling encrusting worm ?Ficopomatus enigmatica? to become established, with dire consequences for river wildlife.

The turtle and crab populations are now under extreme threat as a result of this worm, which gradually encases the carapace, incapacitating the host, leading to its predation or slow death; this is yet another impending natural disaster which can only be addressed by increasing environmental flows through the Murray-Darling system.