Save a reef, eat Lionfish!

October 20, 2010, 7:41 am

New Weapon Against Invading Fish: The Pan

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

As human commerce and mobility act like a great global Waring blender for biology, communities around the world are grappling with the impacts of waves of introduced and invasive species.
Fish present particular challenges, with the Great Lakes girding for  the arrival of Asian carp and lionfish, escapees from the tropical fish trade that sport fans of toxin-tipped spines, spreading in the Caribbean and up the East Coast as far as Long Island.
Recognizing the near impossibility of stopping these invasions, residents of affected regions and some biologists are shifting tactics and encouraging folks  to catch, kill and eat them.

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Below is a photo of a Lionfish at Turromote reef in La Parguera in 45' of water.  We encountered the fish during class today along one of our transects.  To say the least, I think the professor ate well tonight!   

Save a reef, eat Lionfish!

Lionfish Threaten Coral Reef Devastation in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean

Lionfish Invasion: Super Predator Threatens Caribbean Coral Reefs

By: Mark Hixon, Mark Albins, and Tori Redinger

Indo-Pacific lionfish are rapidly invading the waters of the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic. Due to their population explosion and aggressive behavior, lionfish have the potential to become the most disastrous marine invasion in history by drastically reducing the abundance of coral reef fishes and leaving behind a devastated ecosystem. Dr. Mark Hixon and his team from Oregon State University with support from NOAA’s Undersea Research Program (NURP) have embarked on the first studies to measure the severity of the crisis posed by this invasive predator.

While complete eradication does not seem realistic, affected nations are encouraged to initiate targeted lionfish control efforts as soon as possible, including targeted fisheries (lionfish flesh is tasty and cooking denatures the spine venom). Efforts to reduce densities of lionfish at key locations may help to lessen their ecological impacts. Recovering and maintaining healthy populations of potential native predators of lionfish, such as large grouper and sharks, may also help reduce the deleterious effects of these voracious invasive predators.

If you see a Lionfish while diving make an attempt to remove it from the reef with a spear, net, or any other safe apparatus. Do not touch the spines. If you are unsuccessful please report your sighting here online. Or, report any lionfish catches to NOAA at (252) 728-8714 or emailreportlionfish@noaa.gov

Diver info PDF
Angler info PDF

Especie invasora atenta contra el coquí

Por Yulia Nil Cedeño y Gerardo Cordero / El Nuevo Dia
Científico señala que las gallinas de palo han variado su dieta herbívora.

El coquí ya no puede cantar despreocupado en los campos de Borinquen porque un depredador invasor ha llegado a su hábitat.

Se trata de la Iguana iguana o gallina de palo, que en los pasados 20 años se ha reproducido de forma acelerada en Puerto Rico, país al que arribó como simpática mascota de personas que luego las liberaron, seguramente sin imaginar que con el paso del tiempo se convertirían en un riesgo para la flora y la fauna nativa.

Y es que lejos de la inofensiva imagen de sus primeros años como llamativas mascotas exóticas, ahora se sabe que el reptil "no es un angelito", porque además de yerba puede comer huevos de aves, pichones y hasta coquíes, según el doctor Rafael Joglar, biólogo especializado en anfibios y reptiles, quien ha encabezado las primeras investigaciones sobre la gallina de palo en Puerto Rico.
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Joglar explicó que aquí la situación es compleja porque son escasos los depredadores de la gallina de palo. En el limitado grupo de aquellos que entiende pueden atacar y aniquilarlas figuran el guaraguao, el zorzal pardo, la garza real y el perro doméstico. Irónicamente, en su lugar de origen la gallina de palo tiene hasta 41 depredadores.

El profesor Joglar explicó que la Iguana iguana es una especie nativa de Centro y Suramérica que probablemente fue introducida en Puerto Rico durante los años setenta, cuando las importaban como mascotas y las vendían sin mayores limitaciones en las tiendas de animales.

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