lion_crazz
Active Member
I just read a very interesting article about lionfish being in the Atlantic Ocean. Hofstra University author Todd R. Gardner wrote the article about how he found a tiny lionfish off the shore of Long Island in 2001 (pics are below). That year, there were another 34 sightings in the Atlantic, at 12 different locations, near North Carolina, Florida, and off of New York. It was funny, he said in the article that his professor didn't even believe he found the fish. He wrote, "My professor even expressed some doubt as he accused me of buying the fish and smuggling it out to the beach in my bathing suit." He also sent emails to many marine biologists he knew, and, "Almost all of them said essentially the same thing: 'Lionfish don’t live in the Atlantic ocean. Obviously, you’ve caught someone’s released pet.” A few were more along the lines of: “Are you sure it was a lionfish? Maybe it was a sculpin or a sea robin." The author knew that there was no way this was a released pet, as this fish looked as if it was just born. No one releases young lions into the wild, just large ones that they can no longer care for.
The author then wrote, "By now (2006), lionfish sightings along the Atlantic coast have become so commonplace that attempts to count them have become futile."
The group of divers who were out with Gardner all hypothesized that the fish either was spawned somewhere in the Atlantic from hobbyiests' released adult lions, or transported here as a larva in ballast water in a ship.
I found this last paragraph very informative, so I decided to post it:
We may never know how lionfish came to inhabit the Atlantic Ocean, and their impact, if any, on their new ecosystem may not be clear for many years; however as keepers of exotic species, aquarium hobbyists need to be conscientious about all of the environmental and moral issues that our activities touch on: the chemicals we use, the wild harvest of marine life, invasive species, the ethics of keeping animals in captivity, just to name a few. For although we are a part of the global ecosystem and our actions may be no less natural than those of any other organisms, we bear the burden of having at least a partial understanding of our impacts on it. I believe that the positive effects of aquarium keeping, in terms of its educational value and the appreciation it fosters for aquatic life, far outweigh any negative impacts it may have on the environment, however there are some things we should keep in mind. One is that the introduction of non-indigenous species into new locales is widely considered to be second only to habitat destruction as a cause of extinction. Another is that there are people out there who would love to see our hobby shut down and if we refuse to ponder and discuss these issues, we will be ill prepared to defend ourselves. We owe it to ourselves as well as to the planet to be responsible aquarists.
If anyone would like to read the whole article, I would be glad to email it to you. Ry84@MSN.com
The author then wrote, "By now (2006), lionfish sightings along the Atlantic coast have become so commonplace that attempts to count them have become futile."
The group of divers who were out with Gardner all hypothesized that the fish either was spawned somewhere in the Atlantic from hobbyiests' released adult lions, or transported here as a larva in ballast water in a ship.
I found this last paragraph very informative, so I decided to post it:
We may never know how lionfish came to inhabit the Atlantic Ocean, and their impact, if any, on their new ecosystem may not be clear for many years; however as keepers of exotic species, aquarium hobbyists need to be conscientious about all of the environmental and moral issues that our activities touch on: the chemicals we use, the wild harvest of marine life, invasive species, the ethics of keeping animals in captivity, just to name a few. For although we are a part of the global ecosystem and our actions may be no less natural than those of any other organisms, we bear the burden of having at least a partial understanding of our impacts on it. I believe that the positive effects of aquarium keeping, in terms of its educational value and the appreciation it fosters for aquatic life, far outweigh any negative impacts it may have on the environment, however there are some things we should keep in mind. One is that the introduction of non-indigenous species into new locales is widely considered to be second only to habitat destruction as a cause of extinction. Another is that there are people out there who would love to see our hobby shut down and if we refuse to ponder and discuss these issues, we will be ill prepared to defend ourselves. We owe it to ourselves as well as to the planet to be responsible aquarists.
If anyone would like to read the whole article, I would be glad to email it to you. Ry84@MSN.com
