Thursday, July 26, 2012

Little Ray of Sunshine

This guy, a grouper:

http://blogs.menupages.com/southflorida/2007/09/grouper_sandwiches_disappearin.html
sometimes eats lionfish! What a beast.

The grouper is found in the western Atlantic region, and has gobbled up some lionfish every now and then. This is cool because the lionfish now has a natural predator in its unnatural coral environment, meaning a natural way to reduce lionfish population.

Although this is good news, it isn't much news. Groupers are not very abundant, thanks to some overly ambitious fishermen (well not exactly that, but similarly).

Oh well, at least there is sometimes another fish to stand up to the lionfish bully.

Source:
Mumby PJ, Harborne AR, Brumbaugh DR (2011) Grouper as a Natural Biocontrol of Invasive Lionfish. PLoS ONE 6(6): e21510. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021510

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Are We Fixing It?

So this meme describes the general mentality of fixing the invasive lionfish problem:


 
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35j5f0/
Submitted by DJMeiystro

There seems to be an understandable lack of efficacy toward lionfish removal. The only real issues that have resulted from this introduction of species--at least as far as we know-- are:
1. a highly reduced population of other coral reef fish and
2. a highly upset group of humans who got too close to these beauties and were therefore envenomated.

Jonathan Hare and Paula Whitfield in their article from the Aquatic Commons bring up a valid point. The effects of the invasive lionfish upon the ecosystem  as a whole may not be noticeable for many more years. This makes me think that we will eventually be scrambling to get rid of the problem (whatever that problem with lionfish may be) rather than trying to prevent any problems now.

So what do Hare and Whitfield recommend? There are several steps that scientists et al. can take to dig into the issues:

1. Track the population. If we know exactly when and by how much the invasive lionfish population changes, we can draw more accurate conclusions about their environmental impact and our efficiency in getting rid of them.
2. More research! Lionfish need to be studied more frequently in this unnatural environment in order to provide a better understanding of the harm the species induces.
3. In the know. The more informed people are about introduction of marine species to new waters, the less likely it is to happen and cause problems.
4. Regulation of introduction. Once we get on board with step 3, step 4 becomes much easier.
5. Acknowledgement by healthcare providers. If this venomous fish is going to be where people are, it is really important that healthcare is aware of the issue and ready to help envenomated humans.



Basically, no, we aren't fixing it yet on a large scale. It is super expensive. And not enough people care about it yet to make a big investment.


Source:
Hare, Jonathan A. and Whitfield, Paula E. (2003) An Integrated Assessment of the Introduction of Lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles complex) to the Western Atlantic Ocean. Beaufort, NC, NOAA/National Ocean Service/National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science/Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, (NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS, 2)

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Ocean Motion

To get a better mental picture of how this invasive species interacts with its foreign environment, I hit upYouTube...
I came across a pretty sweet video. If you've never had that awesome high school science teacher who showed Oceans videos from BBC on a fun Friday, indulge now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqGhsMhZtF0

Look at them go! I got so nervous that the divers were going to get too close and be lionfish victims! They really are gorgeous fish, and pretty big ones too (at least for the coral reef environment). But they look so out of place, like the Grasshoppers in the ant hill in Disney Pixar's A Bug's Life. They dominate that coral reef!

http://mtmotorstables.blogspot.com/2010/11/top-10-kids-movies-with-hidden.html










The difference is that life isn't always like a Disney movie. The native western Atlantic fish will not be able to join forces and fight back against the invasive lionfish, which is what the ants did against the hoppers in the film.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Verifiably Venomous

There are a couple of reasons why lionfish are able to thrive in US waters.

Invasive lionfish don't have any natural predators. Those were either left at home, or maybe lionfish have managed to scare away potential predators with their venomous spines. Check out this diagram of the lionfish features:

http://www.lionfishhunters.org/Lionfish.html










I wouldn't want to come across this little guy while swimming in the ocean, though their sting is not fatal to humans (but it sure is painful). Lionfish are a real threat to native coral reef species, which would ultimately disrupt coral reef processes and biodiversity.

Source:
Hare, Jonathan A. and Whitfield, Paula E. (2003) An Integrated Assessment of the Introduction of Lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles complex) to the Western Atlantic Ocean. Beaufort, NC, NOAA/National Ocean Service/National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science/Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, (NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS, 2)

Friday, July 13, 2012

What's the problem, really?

A cool-looking species of fish is now hanging out in different waters. What's so bad about that? It turns out that they were first reported there around the 1980s (which was around 30 years ago...WHERE has the time gone) and have since increased in number. Because this is nature we're talking about, there has to be a balance. If invasive lionfish numbers are increasing, something else must be diminishing.


I read an article detailing a study of the effect of lionfish on other coral reef fish in New Providence Island, Bahamas. To view the article, click here:
Invasive Lionfish Drive Atlantic Coral Reef Fish Declines


These researchers observed that the populations of lionfish prey decreased by 65% over the course of two years. This occurred simultaneously with an increase of lionfish to comprise approx. 40% of the predator population. Makes sense. They look like lions and eat like them too!


Lionfish domination in this coral reef area (and really all areas they have invaded) may have long-lasting damage on these aquatic communities and their structures. However, it is difficult to see those damages now.



Source:
Green SJ, Akins JL, Maljković A, Côté IM (2012) Invasive Lionfish Drive Atlantic Coral Reef Fish Declines. PLoS ONE 7(3): e32596. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032596

Thursday, July 12, 2012

An Overview

Here's the gist. This is a lionfish.


http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/


Lionfish, Pterois volitans or Pterois miles, are native to the Indo-Pacific. If you happen to be geographically challenged (like I am), check out this user-friendly map:




http://www.dive-the-world.com/maps-indian-pacific-ocean.php




Although this is where you would normally find these gorgeous fish, it turns out that we can now look a little closer to home, specifically in the Western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Lionfish are considered an invasive species to these bodies of water, meaning that they didn't originate there and are potentially harmful to that environment, not to mention that they are also venomous. More on that later...