On the second day, we went to eco Discovery, where we watched a film about marine life and looked at some of the most prolific and common key reef fish species- both negative species and essential species. To be honest I completely forgot all of the reef species we studied this entire semester (lol sorry Z), but the fish in the tanks and their charts were a great refresher. After jogging my early onset Alzheimer’s/ memory, I went over to some of the other tanks. One of the species that struck my interest is one of the most problematic species of the keys currently- the lion fish.
Invasive species have always struck my interest so I knew right away that I wanted to write about the Lionfish. Lionfish originate from the indo-pacific and the Red Sea, and people are still unsure of how they got here. Even though they are super cool looking and pretty, they are detrimental to reefs and the other species that belong to the reefs. Because they are predatory fish they often prey upon the native fish we need to keep the coral reefs clean of algae and other harmful substances, or out compete other native predators. One of the hardest parts about limiting lion fish populations is the fact they have no natural predators. This is because they have venomous spines on their back that cant be avoided by predators. Although it is hardly ever fatal for humans, it is harmful it even deadly to marine life. So basically, they’re at the top of the food chain. The only thing that has been limiting their populations is humans. In fact, people get A LOT of money and other prizes for hunting Lionfish and bringing them in. There are often contests on who can bring in the biggest or most Lionfish. They’re also (apparently) super delicious; so that helps motivate people to go out and catch them to be cooked and eaten. In return, the restaurant often pays for the Lionfish. Another struggle with catching Lionfish is the fact they can dive down really deep, so the ones that people are catching are only the ones in shallow areas of the ocean- like the reefs. Although it is very unlikely that we will be able to catch all the Lionfish in our surrounding oceans due to their wide variety of prey, ability to deep dive and be venomous attributes, hopefully we can at least try to rid them from our coral reefs as much as possible.
If you want to learn more about Lionfish, click here:
If you want to learn more about the benefits of yeeting lionfish, click here:
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Before Florida I had no idea that Lionfish were actually really bad that is crazy how much damage they cost. No wonder why stores down there sell jewelry made out of the spines of them.
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