The Lionfish; price of the aquarium, terror for the carribean

[srgvigil]

Hey guys long time no see,
Nothing much is new with me just finished my first year of college and am down in Cozumel for two weeks and completing my advance diver cert. Apparently something I found out is that the Lionfish were pushed by the hurricanes from Florida into these waters and have become a huge problem. They have no predators down here and are destroying the ecosystem. The two fish that can eat them, groupers and moray eels (both of which are immune to the poison and are there natural predators) don't know that they can eat them.Divers down here are being encouraged to kill the lionfish and are being payed in some areas for every one they kill. What are your thoughts on this? I find it amazing how a fish can be both a prized possession and a terror at the same time.

 

[cranberry]

My lion is my pet.
But they do need to be disposed of in these waters, unfortunately. I hate the thought of it, but it's necessary.

 

[jstdv8]

same thing is happening in the st lawrence seaway. Those lions are almost pure whute and pinkish and absolutley stunning

 

[noah's nemo]

They have been saying the same thing for years about the snakehead.I don't doubt that its a problem,but i think they blow it out of proportion ,just abit.

 

[cranberry]

Have to read some of the articles? There were pics of clusters of huge lions perched to the underside of ship wrecks...they are coming up with bags and bags of these they they have to s.pear. This is the scary part of the problem.... if it goes any further we'll have a lot of trouble to contend with.

 

[saxman]

both of which are immune to the poison and are there natural predators
they aren't immune to the lion's venom...it's the way they capture them. they do so in a manner that allows the lion's spines to fold back against its body.

 

[srfisher17]

The worst part of this whole situation may be that it gives more ammo to the crowd that wants to stop the importation of just about every living organism.