Lionfish ????

[spstar]

Just got back from a week on the Aqua Cat and check out this Lionfish that we saw at The Blue Hole

 

[robbcayman]

Very cool, Lionfish are awesome. Did you give him a pet. LOL!!!

 

[mixdiver]

Very cool, Lionfish are awesome. Did you give him a pet. LOL!!!

Nice pic. How big was he?

 

[spstar]

Nice pic. How big was he?

8-10" long. The neat part is that this is not a local fish for The Exumas in the Bahamas
It was a real treat to see and get a nice shot of it

 

[Ian T]

Bit strange sometimes to read about fish that one doesn't even look at/for anymore (too common) are rare in other parts - Guess it's one of the pleasures of traveling around the world for diving...
Most of the time we see between 30-40 lionfish (various kinds) on a single dive....

 

[DandyDon]

8-10" long. The neat part is that this is not a local fish for The Exumas in the Bahamas
It was a real treat to see and get a nice shot of it

The lionfish you saw and photographed would be a treat to a diver, yes, but it's an Exotic Threat to the eco-system.

They are popular aquarium pets, hardy, fun to feed (live fish, but can be taught to take dry pellets from the owner's hand), and grow quickly. When they get too big for the tank, what do you do with one? Some people "set them free" in local water. With no natural controls, they can become a real problem for the native life.

Some programs exist to capture such exotics, but they'll probably grow to be a major problem, like Kudzu, English sparrows, etc in the US.

 

[spstar]

The lionfish you saw and photographed would be a treat to a diver, yes, but it's an Exotic Threat to the eco-system.

They are popular aquarium pets, hardy, fun to feed (live fish, but can be taught to take dry pellets from the owner's hand), and grow quickly. When they get too big for the tank, what do you do with one? Some people "set them free" in local water. With no natural controls, they can become a real problem for the native life.

Some programs exist to capture such exotics, but they'll probably grow to be a major problem, like Kudzu, English sparrows, etc in the US.

Don, I would think more like maybe some waste water from the aquarium at THE ATLANTIS in Nassau with all the fish coming and going from an aquarium of this size the transporting water must be very great possible fertile egg being released seems more in line. just a my thought.

 

[DandyDon]

Don, I would think more like maybe some waste water from the aquarium at THE ATLANTIS in Nassau with all the fish coming and going from an aquarium of this size the transporting water must be very great possible fertile egg being released seems more in line. just a my thought.

That's certainly possible. I've been out of that hobby a long time, so I don't know if there have been any successes with breedng of th the pteros volitans in captivity...? http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/RedLionfish/RLionfish.html

 

[DPJ]

Are you doing a trip report on the Aqua Cat?

 

[RIOceanographer]

The lionfish you saw and photographed would be a treat to a diver, yes, but it's an Exotic Threat to the eco-system.

Since they are an invasive species on the US East Coast NOAA has a program to track lionfish sightings. If anyone is interested here is the link:

http://shrimp.ccfhrb.noaa.gov/lionfish/lionfish.html