Killer Algae

Caulerpa taxifolia is a tropical aquarium alga that escaped from Monaco's Oceanographic Museum in 1984 and spread across the Mediterranean, smothering native ecosystems. A single organism (it's one giant cell with multiple nuclei) can cover thousands of square meters, and fragments regenerate into new colonies. It produces toxins that deter grazers.

Caulerpa demonstrates invasive platform dynamics - a organism optimized for one context (tropical aquariums) released into an environment with no adapted competitors or controls. The business parallel is disruptive entrants from adjacent markets: their capabilities, optimized elsewhere, overwhelm local incumbents who lack defenses against unfamiliar competitive strategies.