Lionfish

[richtpe]

I saw this one up at Turtle Reef two weekends ago.



The guy working the counter at Sun Divers (not Ollen) said they had three of them up there (two to the right and one to the left). They had reported them, but DoE was apparently busy in Little Cayman observing grouper spawn. I don't know if they ever got them. I did a dive up there today and someone getting out had seen one. I'm all for them issuing culling permits here like they're doing in Bermuda.

 

[Timoblue]

Seems these fish are moving quick.

Recent reports suggest that at least five lionfish have been discovered in the waters of St.Croix(USVI)and there seems to be some speculation that they are already here in BVI waters.

Although not confirmed yet.

A small insight into the destructive nature of these "Don't touch!" beauties.

Research in the Bahamas indicates that an individual lionfish can reduce juvenile fish on a four square meter reef by an average of 85 percent within only a five week time period.

That's enough juveniles even for one:fish:

If i see one - I will bag it for the aquarium.. feed it bad press then introduce it back to its natural and hope for a reverse effect.


Timo

 

[Gen San Chris]

I just do not understand the panic that you lot seem to be going through because of a few Lion Fish! These are rather small, unlike the Blue Whale which needs several tons of food per day!
They do enjoy a good meal or two every day but not huge amounts!
Is it that your reefs only have few fish, is that what you are worried about!
We have lots of Lion Fish here in the Southern Philippines, even some large ones but our reefs are not in any danger from them as they will not eat out the reefs! Fish produce lots of babies so a few will survive!
Baby Lion Fish are an easy prey fish also for any predator and only a few survive!
To even think about catching and killing them, especially in protected areas is quite disgusting to me and such crazy ideas should be dropped!
As for divers who get injured as a Lion Fish has to defend itself against clumsy divers, sorry for them and be more careful in the future!
Lion Fish are a part of nature and should be treated as such! Leave them alone to do what they do best!
SAVE THE LION FISH!

 

[knotical]

I just do not understand the panic that you lot seem to be going through because of a few Lion Fish! These are rather small, unlike the Blue Whale which needs several tons of food per day!
They do enjoy a good meal or two every day but not huge amounts!
Is it that your reefs only have few fish, is that what you are worried about!
We have lots of Lion Fish here in the Southern Philippines, even some large ones but our reefs are not in any danger from them as they will not eat out the reefs! Fish produce lots of babies so a few will survive!
Baby Lion Fish are an easy prey fish also for any predator and only a few survive!
To even think about catching and killing them, especially in protected areas is quite disgusting to me and such crazy ideas should be dropped!
As for divers who get injured as a Lion Fish has to defend itself against clumsy divers, sorry for them and be more careful in the future!
Lion Fish are a part of nature and should be treated as such! Leave them alone to do what they do best!
SAVE THE LION FISH!

Lionfish are "part of nature" in the Indo-Pacific, where you are. They are not a natural part of the ecosystem in the Atlantic/Caribbean. They have been introduced into an environment which lacks their natural controls. See for example: Lionfish Decimating Tropical Fish Populations, Threatening Coral Reefs

 

[CJ's]

Gen San Chris,
You must understand that there are NO natural predators for Lionfish here in the Caribbean.
They reproduce extremely quickly and are voracious predators. Despite being beautiful fish they are not part of nature here and the reef systems and native fish simply can't cope with them.
It is speculated that they were introduced to the Atlantic by being discarded from aquariums on the east coast of the USA.
If we leave them to do what they do best, and I am afraid to say that I doubt that we will be able to control them, then they will interrupt the entire eco-system here.

I hope that clarifies things for you.
CJ

 

[caymaniac]

What is the predator in the Indo-pacific for the lion fish?

 

[Timoblue]

Is it that your reefs only have few fish, is that what you are worried about!

Quite the opposite.

There is an abundance of reef fish out here in the eastern Caribbean but i guess none if any natural predators of lionfish.

And if there are i'm sure nature will lend a hand.

 

[geokr]

Quite the opposite.

There is an abundance of reef fish out here in the eastern Caribbean but i guess none if any natural predators of lionfish.

And if there are i'm sure nature will lend a hand.

I would advise not responding to General San Chis' ignorance. What's happening in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean is in no way similar to the Southwest Pacific but this guy just doesn't get it and spouts his nonsense everywhere at every opportunity. Lionfish pose a very real threat to the entire Gulf habitat. Though nature may have found a balance in the PI, it hasn't yet been shown that that will be the case on this side of the world, in fact, there's every indication that the presence of lionfish could be very damaging. Studies in the Caribbean to date have shown that a single lionfish can clean a reef of 80% of its native fish in five weeks. The General seems to ignore the facts and relies on only what he sees in his world. This isn't his world. If you have a genuine concern about what lionfish sightings mean, not you GSC, I would report your sightings to reef.org or NOAA. They are collecting the data pertinent to this side of the world and are developing the scientifically-based strategies to deal with it. If you just want to apply what you see in your own back yard on the other side of the world then post nonsense about how nice lionfish are and how they will be acommodated by Nature here, just save it - it's BS. And, if you're a Gulf shrimper or make your living in any way by the sea between Charleston, Aruba and Galveston you might want to start thinking about another career.

 

[geokr]

Here are the facts. Read the attached.

 

[Hank49]

I just do not understand the panic that you lot seem to be going through because of a few Lion Fish! Lion Fish are a part of nature and should be treated as such! Leave them alone to do what they do best!
SAVE THE LION FISH!

If the info is correct, they are at 8 times the level of fish per unit of measurement in the Bahamas as they are in their native habitat....like the southern Philippines. Given that we now see that they can reproduce out of control, I think it is prudent and practical to "weed the yard" by having working divemasters kill them on every dive. Here in Belize there is a bounty on them since there have now been three or four sitings. If, in time, we see that they stableize or reduce to normal levels of populations seen in their natural habitats, and the other reef fish numbers return to normal in places like the Bahamas, you're right, we'll stop the slaughter. But for now in Belize I'm going to kill every....single...one I see. Dead meat. What have we got to lose by trying? We have a pretty good idea of what will happen if we do nothing.
We've screwed up so many places with invasives....look at Hawaii. Anyway, I'm done.... KILL THE LIONFISH