2018 Conde Cavalier Fishing Rodeo

The Beautiful Depredator:
A Story of Lionfish Invasion By:Daniel Mason
It all started back in 2002 when local divers off the coast
of North Carolina have spotted a group of lionfish - the
exotic fish species, common to the warm waters of
western Pacific. The divers were perplexed by such an
unusual discovery and have collected an actual specimen,
which became the first solid evidence of lionfish
spreading in the Atlantic.
Nowadays lionfish is on the lips of many divers, and for a
good reason. The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) and devil
firefish (Pterois miles) are among the fastest spreading
invasive species problems in the ocean. According
to NOAA, these pervasive creatures have become
well established in Bermuda, the Bahamas, Cuba, the
Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Turks and
Caicos, and the Cayman Islands. There are also reported
sightings in Belize, Haiti, U.S. Virgin Islands, Mexico,
Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire. But why is this a problem?
Invasive species are defined as non-native organisms that
intrude into an area and may have serious detrimental
effects on native organisms, the local economy and
human health, as is the case with lionfish. A voracious
appetite, eighteen venomous spines and the fact that they
have no natural predators in the Atlantic Ocean make
lionfish dangerous to coral reefs and to the species that
inhabit them. In order to get a better understanding of the
issue, let us look at how it came into being, why it is so
troubling and what we can do to mitigate it.
How Did the Lionfish End Up in the Atlantic?
lionfish
As we have mentioned before, lionfish species are native
throughout the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. In their
native range, lionfish populations are controlled by many
factors such as predation, competition, and disease. It
is not exactly clear how these creatures have traveled to
the other side of the world, but there is a hypothesis that
their initial introduction has occurred during Hurricane
Andrew in 1992 when at least six lionfish escaped from
a broken beachside aquarium near Biscayne Bay. The
genetic testing supports this theory. It is also likely that
continued release of unwanted lionfish by aquarium
enthusiasts caused additional introductions and range
expansion of the lionfish.
With no natural enemies and an extremely high
reproductive rate of 2 million eggs a year from one
female, lionfish have spread rapidly through the South
Florida Estuaries, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean
Sea. Although now the colder water temperatures are
keeping their numbers in check to the north, warming
ocean conditions may permanently expand the range of
this fish along much of the eastern coast of the United
States.
Why Are Lionfish Dangerous?
Aesthetically speaking, lionfish are majestic-looking
creatures, and many people find it hard to believe that
they can cause some serious damage to coral reef health.
In reality, there are quite a few reasons why lionfish make
so much trouble.
1. Lionfish are voracious eaters. They can prey up
to two-thirds of their own length. Impressively, their
stomachs can expand up to 30 times their normal size
after a meal. Thanks to this a single lionfish is capable of
consuming 20 small fish in a 30-minute period. Given this
extreme rate of feeding, lionfish are out-competing native
predators for their food sources, as well as reducing fish
populations through direct predation.
2. Lionfish are non-selective feeders. Samples of lionfish
stomach contents in the western Atlantic have shown that
they consume over 70 different species, many of which
are overfished and diminished to already critical levels.
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