Mystery Lionfish Disease

[wwguy]

I first learned about this via the Bonaire Lionfish Hunters Facebook group last week and have since read a couple of supporting articles and discussion online. It seemed appropriate to start a thread discussing it here too. The cause of the disease (if that's what it really is), and whether it has the potential to affect humans or other species of marine life, is still unknown.

Rather than put my own spin on it I've copied and pasted the text below from today's online edition of The Bonaire Reporter newspaper:

"A few months ago people in Bonaire’s water sports activities began to notice something strange about lionfish. Charter sailboat Woodwind saw numerous lionfish floating at the surface off the east side of Klein. Then a paddle boarder found one floating at the surface. It had a skin wound similar to an ulcer. Occasionally a speared lionfish exhibited similar wounds. As news of this spread via social media other cases on Bonaire were reported. Divers were asking is it disease, pollution, a predator? “Professional” lionfish dive-fishermen have seen a falling off in the quantity of their catch as well.

Concern is escalating as reports from the University of Florida related similar cases dating back to August 2017. The first documented report of lionfish with skin ulceration was of lionfish harvested from artificial reefs near Destin, FL where 40% of 503 lionfish presented ulcers. Researchers additionally received reports of ulcerated lionfish from the West Florida Shelf, East Florida Shelf, Florida Keys, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and now Bonaire. STINAPA is involved in participating in the continuing research, but since the departure of CIEE the island is without a lab facility. Divers are advised to report details of their discovery on ulcerated lionfish to STINAPA.

To summarize the research to date from at the University of Florida:

1. The percentage of fish presenting with skin ulcers varies with the highest percentage of affected fish being reported from the Florida Panhandle.
2. The proportion of lionfish with active ulcers in the Gulf of Mexico greatly declined in winter and early spring along the Florida Gulf Coast regions, and several fish displayed what appeared to be healing lesions.
3. Diseased fish collected in the Gulf had a lower relative condition factor than apparently healthy fish -- i.e. they are significantly "skinnier" -- however, the effects of skin ulcers are still unknown.
4. Researcher have never received a report of human illness due to ingesting healthy lionfish or ulcerated lionfish. But they cannot make any definitive statements regarding human health.
5. Researchers from several Florida schools plan to continue monitoring observations and begin molecular studies on disease etiology, which will focus on a potential viral origin or association."

This photo is one of several several Bonaire lionfish posted in the Bonaire Lionfish Hunters Facebook group mentioned previously. Fish like this have recently been seen at dive sites north and south on the main island, and off of Klein Bonaire.

 

[Snoweman]

That's already being covered under this thread: Sick Lionfish worldwide phenomenon. Is there hope?

 

[scubafanatic]

Finally some good news with respect to Invasive Lionfish! A natural control over Lionfish populations, like a highly contagious disease, is the only hope for defeating them! We need to find this disease and help spread it as widely as possible (assuming it only affects Lionfish).

 

[wwguy]

That's already being covered under this thread: Sick Lionfish worldwide phenomenon. Is there hope?

LOL, I don't follow the "New Divers and Those Considering Diving" sub-forum. I can't imagine that this topic would get much visibility to most other Bonaire regulars there either.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Finally some good news with respect to Invasive Lionfish! A natural control over Lionfish populations, like a highly contagious disease, is the only hope for defeating them! We need to find this disease and help spread it as widely as possible (assuming it only affects Lionfish).

Hopefully, only invasive lion fish and doesn't spread to natural habitats of Pacific and Asia

 

[scubafanatic]

Hopefully, only invasive lion fish and doesn't spread to natural habitats of Pacific and Asia

I wouldn't mind if lion fish just went extinct. They are an eternal menace, and if you provide sanctuary, they will recontaminate the sanitized places all over again, with possible resistant strains.

 

[chillyinCanada]

But scubafanatic, they are part of a healthy ecosystem in SE Asia.

 

[Lorenzoid]

But scubafanatic, they are part of a healthy ecosystem in SE Asia.

I remember the first time I saw a lionfish. I was in Fiji, and it was a much-anticipated sighting, as back then they were only found in the tropical Pacific. I bought a souvenir print that had been made from an original painting of a lionfish, and it still hangs in my bedroom. It would be a sad irony if the disease were to spread back from the Caribbean to the lionfish's natural habitat.

 

[chillyinCanada]

My first was at Sipadan. Such a thing of beauty.

It feels strange when I see them now during a dive in SE Asia and have to remind myself to admire it rather than point it out to the diver with the spear.