Date: September 20, 2023, 8:00 AM
Happy Wednesday everyone! Today's fish of the day is the lionfish!
The lionfish, known by the scientific name as the genus Pterois, is a horribly invasive species, well known for their unique appearance. The lionfish is made up of 12 individual species, and their natural range is from the Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific. These fish are known for living along reef structures, and rocky substrate.
Lionfish are known for being aggressive, territorial over sections of reef, and driving out other fish. Their diet is entirely carnivorous, preying on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks. Lionfish are known for being relatively slow moving in the water, however they are covered in poisonous spines for defense. Well hunting they blow jets of water at their prey to disorient them, and then swallow prey whole. These fish have few natural predators, and due to their invasive spread into the West Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean, they've been growing in mass. It is believed some of the invasive spread around Florida was caused by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, after it smashed a fish tank and released six lionfish into a local bay. Lionfish are made to live in many environments due to their ability to adapt to salinity, depth, and temperature.
Lionfish being found on reefs they have no natural predators on has led to reef diversity driven down as much as 80%. They breed fast, and can live anywhere from 5-15 years, making it ever hard to contain their spread, and keep them from driving out native species. There have been several programs introduced for reporting lionfish, including the "Lionfish as Food" campaign introduced by the NOAA in 2010. Also used for reporting lionfish sightings. Some people have taken to hunting them in an attempt to contain their spread across reef systems.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!