Lionfish invading east coast...

Interesting article....

Invader hits East Coast, Caribbean fish - World environment - MSNBC.com

 

Kind of makes you think twice about releasing livestock into just any ocean/sea.

 

In the article the release was not deliberate. Livestock from a home aquarium are exposed to many dieseases that should not be released back into a poplulation that may not deal with that particular parisite/illness. Invasive species are a big problem in Florida.

 

Yeah....we are going to be snorkling in the Caribbean next spring. I will bring an underwater camera and upload pics to the site from the boat. I will have to educate my kids on the dangers of lionfish......getting stung would certainly ruin a few days.

 

back in feb or march i was in san salvador,bahamas (where christopher coloumbus first landed)for a while. i did 5 dives(would have ended up doing 12 but got the flu). on every dive i saw at least 3 or 4 lions. not small ones, good size ones. my uncle was the head diver there and carried a hawain sling on every dive. he got atleast 2 or 3 per a dive.

 

I live in florida and I'm a diver but I have never seen one out there myself. I have heard of people catching them off the beach though. Just one more thing out there to creep me out while swimming. I feel much more comfy being under water where I can see than to be at the beach anymore. Partly because of pale french canadians in their bannana hammocks though.

 

old news. they have been here for years. not frequently encountered, teach your kids about hydroids, (the feather hydroid only has a bee like sting, but is surprisingly abundant) scorpionfish and stone crabs. Those are the less obvious ones to worry about I think.

oh yes....the banana hammock tourist. wow people. wow.

 

the lion fish eat everything...ive seen them a few times snorkeling...the best thing to do with a fish that has grown to big or blah blah is to give it to a friend or LFS, or in the worst case humanely place the fish in a plastic bag with a lil water and in the freezer it goes,painless hypothermia, sounds mean but invasive species are not something we should release into very sensitive ecosystems.

 

Hi friends, I am a great nature lover and always like to share my views in such kind of posts. I didn't know much about fishes, this thread is really very informative and interesting. Keep posting such nice posts.

 

Just my 2 cents worth - We have upset the 'system' enough. Years ago 'we' were dumping baby aligators in the toilet...now cane toads in Aus. When will 'we' stop...
I know everyone didn't do this but collectively 'YEP WE ALL DID'
I make me responsible ---