Lionfish on East Coast....?

[scubadiverjunkie]

http://www.divenews.com/modules.php...=article&sid=2766&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Anyone seen them where they dive?

 

[DocVikingo]

Yes, they've been off the coast of NC for about 4 years now. I've seen them on some of the wrecks off Nag's Head. It's a shocker.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[jeadiver]

As have I, off of both Hatteras, Morehead City and Wilmington.

 

[Spectre]

Yes.

The guys from Olympus in morehead city had a great story about them. Calling up NOAA and telling them they were here. NOAA said BS. Insisted; NOAA didn't believe them. They finally called up NOAA and told them again. They once again didn't believe it; so they told them to come to the dock and explain what was in the bucket.

The aquarium in morehead has a whole display about them.

A dive on the cassimer [or perhaps the lobster wreck; I don't recall] had a lionfish hanging out right at the tie-in; as well as a few others in other locations on the wreck.

 

[The Kraken]

Don't ya love it when those that are so self-righteous are proven wrong ?

 

[O-ring]

Yep, these guys are right.. I have seen quite a few of them the last couple years off the NC coast.

 

[Wijbrandus]

I know lionfish are not part of the normal ecosystem, they are poisonous, and they throw things out of whack.

What are the real issues here? Are they eating up some local fish specifically? Do they swim around and sting swimmers/divers? Or is it simply that they are a non-indiginous species?

 

[chickdiver]

I know lionfish are not part of the normal ecosystem, they are poisonous, and they throw things out of whack.

What are the real issues here? Are they eating up some local fish specifically? Do they swim around and sting swimmers/divers? Or is it simply that they are a non-indiginous species?

Well there are a couple of issues-

Lionfish are native to the warm, reef environements of the Pacific. They are toxic. Specifically, they are nuero- toxic. Even very small Lionfish can envenomate a diver sufficiently to cause shock and respiratory problems in a short period of time. Since they are a non-native species, they have no natural predators in the area. They also do not have prey (food-source) adapted to defend against their predatory apparatus. Since their reproduction is likely to be (for the most part) unchecked by natural predators, they could likely cause tremendous loss among whatever they identify as a food source. Thus throwing the entire eco system out of whack (much like zebra mussels have done in the lakes).

 

[Wijbrandus]

Thanks, ChickDiver. Then there isn't anything "more" to it than they are a non-native species and this results in the usual havoc. Not that that's not bad enough.

I wonder if this is a result of ballast dumping or some local knucklehead simply dumping his unwanted fish in the ocean.

 

[The Kraken]

With respect to fish being "non-native", does this preclude their becoming "naitve". What may be at work here is Darwinism in its purest form.

Consider the implications of global warming. Global warming effectively raises the temperature of the oceans. The increase in water temperatures may allow or even encourage fish to migrate from one area to another. Territorial boundaries change for many reasons.

Needless to say, we can't rule out the possibility that the fish were artificially introduced into the area.