Lionfish myth?

I was over diving off Nassau recently when the dive master related the often told, "Hurricane Andrew's 15 ft.+ storm surge that gently freed 6 or so lionfish to populate the Bahamas, Bermuda, Turks & Caicos much of the eastern seaboard ..." Well, let's think about this for a second. Where have lionfish been the most rare to date from all these areas? SE Florida. That seems to be changing, slowly, I've yet to see one here but am reading reports of them here.

I see a lot every time I'm in the Bahamas, far more than I ever saw in their native haunts during a trip to the Red Sea by the way.

So, you apparently have the fewest lionfish at the proported point of origin 17 years ago. Then you have the daunting task of surviving a devastating storm surge and reportedly being seen in local waters within a week. As I recall, things were silted out for sometime near the shore particularly in the carbonate silts down that way.

So where did they come from? Got me, good guess is we had something to do with it though. The ship bilge water theory provides a ready mechanism and yet, ships have been spewing ballast water for a very long time and the earliest reports of lionfish sightings I've heard of date back about 20 years, usually sooner than that. Some have mentioned aquaculture operations inadvertently releasing fertilized eggs, fry through raw water tank discharge in the Bahamas. The fry may spend sometime beneath sargassum mats floating with prevailing currents (e.g. Gulfstream) to aid distribution. The suggestion of releases by home aquarists has some credibility, For comparison, look at the python problem in southern states, no way those monsters slipped out of air cargo or ship bilges. Some irresponsible fools let their babies out to prey upon the world, local ecology and the odd child because ... rampant stupidity, short sightedness. Got me again.

Bottom line, the lionfish are here and in some areas are extremely common. Can reason what likely impacts might be and yet still on the fence to see if that is what comes about. Not crazy about spearfishing, resource depletion goes way back, and yet, support an exception in this case. Supposed to taste better than hogfish, have at it, don't get stung.

I ran across another theory that makes a lot of sense. The Atlantis in Nassau has an extensive fish collection on display including lionfish. They don't, or didn't at the time, filter the discharge water going out of the aquariums which could have allowed lionfish eggs to be released into the very hospitable local environment. If this were true it would explain the very large concentrations found there and, further, these may have migrated the relatively short distance to Florida where they were first noticed. Andrew, aquarists and ballast water may have had absolutely nothing to do with it.

geokr:

I ran across another theory that makes a lot of sense. The Atlantis in Nassau has an extensive fish collection on display including lionfish. They don't, or didn't at the time, filter the discharge water going out of the aquariums which could have allowed lionfish eggs to be released into the very hospitable local environment. If this were true it would explain the very large concentrations found there and, further, these may have migrated the relatively short distance to Florida where they were first noticed. Andrew, aquarists and ballast water may have had absolutely nothing to do with it.

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With just a little basic math, This theroy makes a lot of sense to me. The potential of thousands of eggs per day adds up better than six fish many miles away from the greatest current concentration of fish. I read that they reach reproductive maturity in 2 years. The females can lay up to 30,000 eggs multiple times during the spawn. Thats and lot of the invasive buggers.

snepdiver:

With just a little basic math, This theroy makes a lot of sense to me. The potential of thousands of eggs per day adds up better than six fish many miles away from the greatest current concentration of fish. I read that they reach reproductive maturity in 2 years. The females can lay up to 30,000 eggs multiple times during the spawn. Thats and lot of the invasive buggers.

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According to Dr. John E Randall, CoralRealm .. Our Distinguished Board of Advisors and Consultants this is what the ichthyologists believe nowadays.

Just found a recently updated distribution map, not good. Not sure if it is totally up to date given reports from the Antilles. Could be Basin wide at this point, joy.


From: NAS - Species FactSheet

In the same publication, this is what they had to say about impacts:

"Impact of Introduction: Recent research by Albins and Hixon (2008) provides the first evidence of negative effects of lionfish on native Atlantic coral-reef fishes. The recruitment of coral-reef fishes was studied during the 2007 recruitment period (July-August) on small patch reefs in the Bahamas with and without a single lionfish. Over the five week period, net recruitment (i.e., accumulation of new juvenile fishes via settlement of larvae) was reduced by 79% on reefs with lionfish compared to reefs without lionfish. Stomach content analyses and observations of feeding behavior showed that reductions in native fish density were almost certainly due to predation by lionfish. Prey items found in lionfish stomachs included the fairy basslet Gramma loreto, bridled cardinalfish Apogon aurolineatus, white grunt Haemulon plumierii, bicolor damselfish Stegastes pertitus, several wrasses Halichoeres bivittatus, H. garnoti and Thalasoma bifasciatum, striped parrotfish Scarus iserti, and dusky blenny Malacoctenus gilli. Initial examination of crustacean prey suggests that lionfish may also eat the juvenile spiny lobster Panulirus argus. The reduction in recruitment of coral-reef fishes suggests that lionfish may also compete with native piscivores by monopolizing this important food resource. In addition, lionfish have the potential to decrease the abundance of ecologically important species such as parrotfish and other herbivorous fishes that keep seaweeds and macroalgae from overgrowing corals."

I am not familiar with currents that would account for the distribution below Florida even down to the northern shores of South America from Florida or the Bahamas. From those areas north, different story. Suspect there may have been multiple sources over different areas over time. That is only a reasoned conclusion of course. The origin story from Key Biscayne was made very early in all this and upon one eye witness report in 1995. Seems to be a larger issue today.

An update, I asked over the weekend, where it was thought the lionfish had come from that are only just starting to show up in Cozumel, Mexico. Apparently, the conventional wisdom has it that they few lionfish arrived via the aquarium located on Key Biscayne, 17 years ago?! Again, an area with very few lionfish is Miami-Dade County, at present anyway, from reports. This compared to points east and well north. So, the same story that is being popularly told to dive operators in Nassau is being promoted to similar concerns almost 700 miles away in Mexico. Apparently, the recommended practice in Cozumel within the National Park is to report sightings to the Park Administration. The information may be catalogued but by at least one report, there isn't necessarily a followup to remove the individual sighted. I thought lionfish had shown up almost two years ago in Cozumel. I am told that it is far more recent than that. They might have a shot at limited population growth, at least on leeward reefs, if they actively remove lionfish. If not, could be a repeat of what is being seen in other areas. From the above map, looks like they may well populate the Yucatan coast someday. Might be able to ease things on Cozumel despite that, perhaps.

A White horse
A Red horse
A Black Horse
A Pale Horse
Souls under the altar
Celestial Signs
Lionfish Invasion -----------....

Active removal - that's the right idea. Most places wait too long and then it's too late. BTW - I checked with a friend who is involved in the studies and the Atlantis theory I posted isn't valid since it was built after the first notice of them in Florida and other reasons.

I have yet to see compelling evidence for any "one" source of the invasion. Seems credible to have been a number spread over a wide area. All the sources under discussion seem to involve varying degrees of conjecture.

Not sure how effective removal will be in reducing lionfish in the Bahamas at this point or in thinly dived areas bordering the Yucatan mainland. Still, it might be worth a try regardless. Cozumel, being an island and reportedly having few individuals at this point might show some benefit from removal. The same might be said for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties given the apparent current rare nature of lionfish in these areas.

At this point the how, is no longer terribly important. They are established and spreading.

Because of their rapid reproductive capabilities, veracious appetites, and lack of natural predators they continue to spread very quickly. They have been spotted according to some reports at depths of several hundred feet, which is going to make them terribly difficult to control by hunting.

But they taste quite good:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/287885-lionfish-recipes.html