Attack of the Lionfish: Can they be Stopped?

By: Deborah Netburn

These animals are not your typical friendly, beautiful fish. "They are invading coral reefs and devouring native fish throughout the Caribbean. They are lionfish, and they are multiplying like crazy."(Netburn 1). These fish are completely unstoppable and we don't know if there is any hope for the coral reef.  These fish will eat anything that they can get into their mouths and their spikes are very dangerous so it is very difficult to fight them off. This is whats called "gape-limited". They just eat and eat constantly and they grow so quickly. Ideally, the only way to kill these fish is to get in the water and kill them with a spear or use a net to catch them. "Eradication seems impossible, but a new study published in the journal Ecological Applications finds that you don't have to remove every last lionfish from a reef in order for native fish populations to return-- you just have to remove most of them." (Netburn 1). In the Bahamas, research has been done which tells us that 75% to 95% of lionfish has been removed on one reef and it takes a lot of time to catch these animals. It is hopeful in the future that fishermen and divers will work together to help to make lionfish free zones, in order for fish and coral reefs to stay protected. More and more research is being developed to discover where else these fish are and really their native range goes from the coast of Africa all the way to Australia. (Netburn). Overall, these fish spread so quickly and more action needs to be taken to prevent from the coral reefs from suffering. These fish might will give you a new impression of them, after seeing how much they are affecting things in our ocean. (Netburn).


http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-war-on-lionfish-20140123,0,5512010.story#axzz2rXh11DDF