NOAA Divers to Explore for Venomous Fish

[dlndavid]

Interesting article on the lionfish population explosion.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040716/ap_on_sc/lionfish&cid=624&ncid=1112

 

[flounderer]

Here's another link with some interesting info.

http://www.uncw.edu/nurc/research/spotlight_on.htm

 

[archman]

Studies like this just piss me off. All this funding, technical expertise, and diving to STUDY the dangerous exotic, rather than exterminate the little vermin. This just wastes time and lets a declining ecological situation get even worse. Then again, it's probably too late anyway. I DESPISE dangerous exotics!!

 

[flounderer]

They did a good job exterminating what they could. At the few sites they visited, both wrecks and hardbottom, they managed to collect (kill) about 150. My friends were diving on this study and they said lionfish are everywhere out there. Some friends have shot grouper with juvenile lionfish in there gut so something can eat them. Exterminating these guys is out of the question there are just so many now it would be like trying to slay all the pinfish that swim. Don't quote me on this but my friend said they pulled 53 off one wreck so I would say they are established.

Here is another local story on them.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/...0040819/NEWS/40818024&SearchID=73182429988731

 

[wscdive]

I dove out of morehead city on the 27 and 28 of august and saw lionfish on almost every dive. I think they are here to stay

 

[archman]

I think they are here to stay

Nuts.

 

[Allison Finch]

Geee......with all of those huge, beautiful EMPTY anemones in the carribbean, why can't they introduce (by accident, of course) some nice anemone fish. The spine cheeks are my favorite <hint hint>.

 

[padiscubapro]

Geee......with all of those huge, beautiful EMPTY anemones in the carribbean, why can't they introduce (by accident, of course) some nice anemone fish. The spine cheeks are my favorite <hint hint>.

obviously you never had a salt water aquarium.. The anenomes in the caribean gladly consume any clownfish that would try and settle in....

Many aquarist have made this mistake.. buying the relatively cheap caribean varieties and putting them in with clown fish..

Form what I have seen it appears that the clown fish have no defense against many of these anenomes (it may not be true for all species of clownfish/anenomes)

The varibean anenomes seem to have much better defenses, in parts of the world where they are dependent on clownfish, if you remove the clownfish, the anenomies are usually quickly consumed by fish such as butterfly fish.

 

[Allison Finch]

Actually, the anemone fish needs to build up their immunity to the anemone. If they have been out of "touch" with an anemone for a while, they are likely to get stung by even an anemone they used to live in. Fish in shops have lost their build-up of Tolerance. They have to approach the anemone and make minute touches and build up their coating all over again. Often the fish forgets this and dashes in.....yummy.....burp!!!

 

[FredT]

This is one place where spearfishing may be a good general pastime.If ALL divers shot as many of these critters as they could it would at least slow down the population increase. They'd be good practice for the pole spear folks with barbless paralyzer tips and prevent them "practicing" on undersize native fish. The only thing to work out is an idiot proof method of getting them off the tip. I'm reasonably sure the crabs and other scavengers would be happy to clean up the mess.

Not to mention the "sea change" in the dive charter and teaching industry's attitute towards selective marine harvesters if this became prevalent.

FT