In the past twenty years, this species experienced a population explosion in the Levantine Sea and a rapid spread westward, reaching the westernmost sectors of the Mediterranean[7] and as far north as the Gulf of Lions by 2007.

[10] F. commersonii is now considered an invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea because of its rapid development to reproductive stage and its detrimental effect on native fish populations.

[11] Scientists have determined that the fish in the Mediterranean are all descended from a small number of ancestors, possibly as a result of a single invasion event, and are not as genetically variable as their conspecifics in the Red Sea.

[12] It has a tubular snout, large eyes and a long tail filament lined with sensory pores which may help with detecting prey.

This contradicts the prevailing theory, called enemy release hypothesis, that parasites would not be able to survive in hosts as they encounter new marine territory.