Atlantic Ocean Temperature Rise Could Favor Range Expansion of Invasive Lionfish and

[Selchie in LB]

This article refers mainly to North Carolina. Since moving to Rhode Island I've learned that the gulf stream brings us lots of tropical fish. Just wondering if anyone has seen lion fish up here. Adaptation is amazing so I hope they don't decide to winter over!
Here's the link: http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news...r-expansion-invasive-lionfish-native-species/

under water some where

 

[agilis]

Lionfish are seen regularly here in the Northeast, but only when water temps are relatively warm, generally from late July to early October. The ocean water temps here in the North East plummet to the upper 30sF in winter, killing off all Gulf Stream tropical strays, including the Lionfish.

I've been collecting Gulf Stream tropicals here in NJ and other states as far north as Massachusetts for 50 years, as long as I've been a marine aquarist. I was doing some collecting two weeks ago near the entrance to Barnegat Inlet, on a day when a huge lens of Gulf Stream water had been pushed against the shoreline by NE winds.

The visibility was astonishingly good, and I did see one small Lionfish, along with countless dozens of Butterflyfishes, a couple of small Blue Angelfish, a school of Lookdowns, some Damselfishes, Seahorses, Spiny Puffers, tiny Trunkfish and, most fortuitously, a Bigeye Catalufa which now resides in one of my aquariums, twice the size it was when I hand netted it.

The proximity of the Gulf Stream and its year-round warm waters to the Outer Banks has allowed Lionfish to establish significant permanent populations in North Carolina. As the population of Lionfish increases off the Outer Banks we will probably see increasing numbers of their small offspring carried inshore further north by the Gulf Stream in late summer. Happily, they all die when temps drop later in the year. I don't think permanent populations are possible in states like NJ and Rhode Island because of the extreme temperature drop in winter as the chill North Atlantic asserts itself.

 

[AfterDark]

They'll be in NC permanently IMO if what I was told is true. I was told a story by one of the DMs at Olympus a few years back about how they were killing Lionfish by the bagful until they found no more. Well that is until they ran a few tech dives and found as many as they had killed at depths below 130FSW. Agilis could they be that smart?

 

[agilis]

It's very possible that they are in NC permanently, especially in deep water close to the Gulf Stream. The last time I was in Dominica I was told by a dive instructor that they discovered large populations of Lionfish at 200 feet, threatening an important fishery. I suspect this is true in many places. It's not that they are in any way clever, it's simply that they are unseen and unmolested at those depths, where they can live quite comfortably. They seem to do well in temps as low as 60F . They breed prolifically, have few if any natural predators, and are very effective hunters.

Many things will change over time in ways we cannot predict, and not for the better.

 

[Selchie in LB]

Adaptation! First 60f then 50f then ... you get the idea. Especially without predators. So while humans are busy culling sharks, tuna & whatever else is easy the lionfish are taking over the Northeast. [emoji51] OK a little dramatic. [emoji33]

under water some where

 

[Learn It]

They sure looked nice in my aquariums though

 

[agilis]

I've come to detest the sight of them. I kill every one I can.

The owner of a dive shop in Dominica had a tiny specimen, not much more than an inch long, on the outside counter. It would eat the many insects that dropped into its little jug. The owner was very fond of the damned thing, but I saw at as an evil presence.

 

[ffdiver]

FYI seahorses are found here in the northeast because they live here. They are not caught in the Gulf Stream and brought up like butterfly fish. When you net them and take them out of their natural habitat you are actually hurting the population, not saving a seahorse. Rant over.

 

[Selchie in LB]

FYI seahorses are found here in the northeast because they live here. They are not caught in the Gulf Stream and brought up like butterfly fish. When you net them and take them out of their natural habitat you are actually hurting the population, not saving a seahorse. Rant over.

I will have to keep an eye out for them. Had no idea. Still trying to learn species here.

under water some where

 

[agilis]

FYI seahorses are found here in the northeast because they live here. They are not caught in the Gulf Stream and brought up like butterfly fish. When you net them and take them out of their natural habitat you are actually hurting the population, not saving a seahorse. Rant over.

Current research indicates that there are both native populations of Hippocampus erectus and Gulf Stream H. erectus strays in the bays and rivers of the North Atlantic states. A trip out to the Stream can be enlightening.

I've watched seahorses in Barnegat Bay for decades, watched them curl into a nearly circular inactive mode, drifting inertly in the fall months, found them in muddy back bays and slow tidal rivers in January and February. I've also seen hundreds of them, one to two inches, drifting miles offshore just below the surface, in blue water moving inshore while being picked off by all kinds of predatory fishes. Even yearling turtles, numerous in NJ inlets in August, like to nibble on these drifting seahorses.

The local permanent populations of Seahorses tend to favor certain areas and temperature gradients, and seem to exist in distinct colonies. Many of these colonies have been destroyed. I've seen acres of eelgrass removed to accommodate the expansion of seaside estates and boat basins.

The truth is there is a great deal that we do not understand about the nature of Seahorse ecology. Some DNA research is being done, but I have not seen any data yet. Still, we know that there are both permanent populations and stray populations of Seahorses in the NJ to the Cape Cod region.

In any case, I never collect seahorses. Never. The RE developers and polluters of every kind have destroyed much of the most fragile segments local bays and waterways that were once teeming with life. Every year it gets worse. It's silly to quibble over small things while entire ecosystems vanish with hardly a voice raised in protest.