El Graduado
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The other night I had a discussion with a friend about the lion fish problem. During the discussion, he insisted that the lion fish invasion stemmed from an accidental release during hurricane Andrew, when an aquarium with lion fish broke open in a Key Biscayne restaurant. I told him that was incorrect and pointed him to my latest book, Natural History of Cozumel. In chapter 7 (Invasive and Introduced Species) I give the origin of this myth:
The myth maintains that the Indo-Pacific lion fish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) which has invaded Caribbean waters all originated from a few captive fish after an aquarium broke at a restaurant in Biscayne Bay when Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida in 1992. As with most myths, there is a smidgen of truth to this statement, but it does not tell the whole story.
Lion fish may have escaped from an aquarium in Biscayne Bay during Hurricane Andrew, as reported by Dr. Walter Courtenay, but according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there were previous reports and sightings of lion fish near Dania, Florida as early as 1985. Dr. Walter Courtenay himself has tried to retract the statement he published about the Biscayne Bay aquarium being the origin of the infestation: “It was second-hand information,” he said in 2010, “which unfortunately continues to spread, so that Andrew is often mentioned as the reason for the catastrophic lion fish invasion.”
There were other pre-Andrew reports of lion fish along the south Florida coast from the late 1980s up through 2000 and 2001, when NOAA documented examples found in water of the coast of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Bermuda. In 2004, lion fish were first reported in the Bahamas. In 2005 they were found in Cuba. By 2009 they reached Cozumel.
So, how did these voracious fish endemic to the Indian Ocean get to Cozumel where they have no species that prey on them and keep them in check? All indications point to intentional releases of aquarium fish, mostly likely during several separate events and at several different locations along the eastern coast of the United States. These unfortunate intentional releases are having disastrous results, similar to the ecological damage caused by the intentional release of the first Boas in Cozumel in 1971 by the production crew filming El jardín de tía Isabel.
The myth maintains that the Indo-Pacific lion fish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) which has invaded Caribbean waters all originated from a few captive fish after an aquarium broke at a restaurant in Biscayne Bay when Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida in 1992. As with most myths, there is a smidgen of truth to this statement, but it does not tell the whole story.
Lion fish may have escaped from an aquarium in Biscayne Bay during Hurricane Andrew, as reported by Dr. Walter Courtenay, but according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there were previous reports and sightings of lion fish near Dania, Florida as early as 1985. Dr. Walter Courtenay himself has tried to retract the statement he published about the Biscayne Bay aquarium being the origin of the infestation: “It was second-hand information,” he said in 2010, “which unfortunately continues to spread, so that Andrew is often mentioned as the reason for the catastrophic lion fish invasion.”
There were other pre-Andrew reports of lion fish along the south Florida coast from the late 1980s up through 2000 and 2001, when NOAA documented examples found in water of the coast of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Bermuda. In 2004, lion fish were first reported in the Bahamas. In 2005 they were found in Cuba. By 2009 they reached Cozumel.
So, how did these voracious fish endemic to the Indian Ocean get to Cozumel where they have no species that prey on them and keep them in check? All indications point to intentional releases of aquarium fish, mostly likely during several separate events and at several different locations along the eastern coast of the United States. These unfortunate intentional releases are having disastrous results, similar to the ecological damage caused by the intentional release of the first Boas in Cozumel in 1971 by the production crew filming El jardín de tía Isabel.
