Lionfish in Cozumel

[deepstops]

I don't think there is any way of stopping them short of finding a predator and there are none identified anywhere. Finding one in the stomach of an occasional grouper was just a bad choice of a meal by the grouper and he'd never do it again. Nope, this problem isn't going to be solved by any small measures.

These things are native to the Pacific yet I've only seen a few of them in Truk and Guam. SOMETHING DOES EAT THEM. Otherwise the Pacific would be decimated by them.

Like a humpback scorpionfish:


BTW, we had two sightings here in FL this week in places they'd never been seen (Broward County and the Upper Keys).

 

[deborahdelamar]

Scuba8: Thanks for posting the story and, if you're still in Coz, please thank Edgar! (I plan to do so personally.) That fish is in a jar, drifting in a sea of formaldehyde. Tried to upload the photo, but received an error message that I don't know how to fix...

 

[geokr]

These things are native to the Pacific yet I've only seen a few of them in Truk and Guam. SOMETHING DOES EAT THEM. Otherwise the Pacific would be decimated by them.
.

I agree. In 15 dives on the Barrier Reef I only saw one so something is THERE that isn't HERE that keeps them under control. But, whatever it is we may not want that something here, either. Personally, I think it's something that gets them while there still in their egg sacs or when they're too small to be venomous. But, that's something for the scientists to figure out. In the mean time, governments that don't normally allow catching or killing marine life should allow open season on these guys and they better do it quick.

 

[deepstops]

In the mean time, governments that don't normally allow catching or killing marine life should allow open season on these guys and they better do it quick.

Truer words may have never been written

 

[stortecky]

I agree. In 15 dives on the Barrier Reef I only saw one so something is THERE that isn't HERE that keeps them under control. But, whatever it is we may not want that something here, either. Personally, I think it's something that gets them while there still in their egg sacs or when they're too small to be venomous. But, that's something for the scientists to figure out. In the mean time, governments that don't normally allow catching or killing marine life should allow open season on these guys and they better do it quick.

I think that if the government would allow divers to take action that it would help but not solve the problem. The ocean is pretty big and there is a lot of area for them to hide. I don't think this is going to be an easy problem solve.

 

[MyPC8MyBrain]

Maybe tack another .50 on the daily park permit, then pay that out in lionfish bounty of some fashion.

In Mexico's economy I can see lionfish hunters cleaning them off of the reefs faster than they can do the damage. Heck, I would do it for free. Kill the nasty buggers as fast as you can I say.

 

[weaponeer]

There have been other instances where non-native sea creatures have turned up in US waters. They found that large tankers and cargo ships using seawater pumped into holds to provide ballast while transiting open seas pump out their ballast before arriving in US ports. The ballast water contained critters non-native to the area of release. Could be possible that lionfish arrived in US waters by the same method.

 

[ggunn]

There have been other instances where non-native sea creatures have turned up in US waters. They found that large tankers and cargo ships using seawater pumped into holds to provide ballast while transiting open seas pump out their ballast before arriving in US ports. The ballast water contained critters non-native to the area of release. Could be possible that lionfish arrived in US waters by the same method.

That's how the disease that killed off most of the spiny sea urchins got into the Caribbean, according to a show I saw on (I think) the Discovery Channel. Epidemiology studies backtracked the progress of the disease to a point corresponding to the entrance to the Panama Canal.

 

[Harro10]

Hi, scuba8. I was on the dive with you and thanks for posting the picture. I think Edgar was the most surprised person in the group.

 

[briankinley2004]

These things are native to the Pacific yet I've only seen a few of them in Truk and Guam. SOMETHING DOES EAT THEM. Otherwise the Pacific would be decimated by them.

Hey Brian. Here is something that eats them

YouTube - Lionfish Hunter 3/28