• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Lionfish in the Atlantic

EricBa

EricBa

I just came from a vacation in Florida and the Bahamas. While snorkeling in the Bahamas, right off the beach from our hotel, I saw an adult Lionfish stalking smaller fish. I couldn't believe my eyes. A few moments later, about 20 yards away, I saw a juvenile Lionfish. I had heard that they were spotted of Florida, but I never expected to see one myself. Does anyone know how prevalent they are in the Atlantic/Caribean?

Eric
 
R

ReeferNets

When i worked for the State of NJ a few years back, they did a huge report on invasive species that had been reported off the NJ coast.

Beleive it or not in the warmer summer months they found lionfish.

There was a large article in the Shoreline magazine put out by NOAA and the state of NJ
 
B

bconn

I used to see Butterfly fish down in Pt. Pleasant during late August & early Sept. Most frequently when diving right around the old railroad bride by the 711 & Spikes Fishmarket - going towards the boardwalk. They would hang out and pick at the rocks by the old sunken wood. Not sure if anyone knows the area I am describing. There is a small parking lot by the dive area.

Sad part was when the water started getting cold they would die. I was surprised to see so many considering it was such a long swim from FL. :)
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

EricBa said:
I just came from a vacation in Florida and the Bahamas. While snorkeling in the Bahamas, right off the beach from our hotel, I saw an adult Lionfish stalking smaller fish. I couldn't believe my eyes. A few moments later, about 20 yards away, I saw a juvenile Lionfish. I had heard that they were spotted of Florida, but I never expected to see one myself. Does anyone know how prevalent they are in the Atlantic/Caribean?

Eric
Click to expand...

Report Lionfish Sightings


Scuba divers and others can help with the NOAA research effort by reporting lionfish sightings to:

Paula Whitfield
NOAA Beaufort Laboratory
101 Pivers Island Rd
Beaufort, NC 28516 -9722

Voice: 252-728-8746
Fax: 252-728-8784
Email: Paula.Whitfield@noaa.gov

Please be prepared to provide coordinates of where the lionfish was found and at what depth. If possible, photographs or video should accompany the above information.
 
E

Evik

We were in Atlantis last October and I have same experience. We took a day trip to Rose Island (small deserted island), an hour by boat from Atlantis. Very nice snorkeling, beautiful corals and fish I don't even know and I was little bit afraid to see lion fish since they are poisons, but it kept it's distance and then it disappeared. Then I was showing it to my husband in The Dig (under hotel aquarium)photo:

BahamasDay5118.jpg



Photo of the snorkeling site at Rose Island

BahamasDay3258.jpg


View from our hotel room - see the stingrays

BahamasDay2115.jpg


Few pictures from The Dig

BahamasDay3092.jpg


BahamasDay3115.jpg


BahamasDay1068.jpg


BahamasDay4013.jpg


BahamasDay5233.jpg



and the beach I could spend the rest of my life at :)

BahamasDay4117.jpg


I hope you don't mind these pictures, but it was dream vacation for me like reef maniac ;D
 
H

harlequinreef

I did a case study on this situation a couple of semesters ago. There are two species that have established breeding populations from North Carolina south throughout the Caribbean and Bermuda. Pterois volitans and P. miles are suspected to have established these populations through captive releases and it is suspected that several individuals escaped from Atlantis in the Bahamas during a hurricane. I forget where I read it, but there was also a known release of six adult P. volitans in Biscayne Bay Florida. Maybe a dive operator looking to establish new attractions...who knows. The first recorded sighting was off of N. Carolina back in the early 90s. The main problems are 1.) they are voracious predators and 2.) they have no known predators in the Atlantic. It is not yet clear what threat they pose to these ecosystems, but many officials are concerned that these fish are feeding heavily on juvenile species that are both recreationally and commercially important such as grouper and snapper. Although surely exciting to see while diving in the Atlantic, these fish are truly invasive and could present major problems to these ecosystems. This is not the case with other tropicals seen in our area during the summer months. The spotfin butterflies and juvi angels seen around here are native to tropical western Atlantic and only arrive in our area due to the Gulf Stream; juvi lions are also found in our area for the same reason. Scuba Diving Magazine has a great article about this in their March 2008 issue. And the link posted by EricBa also has lots of current info.
 
B

boontonbob

Hey Eric! - Interesting. I did a few dives in the Bahama but didn't see any.I believe they have been labeled as rare to see from my reading around five years ago. I have seen them in the Phillipines along a massive wall.

Those photos make me want to go back to Atlantis. I sure don't remember seeing a beach like that. Nice!
 
H

harlequinreef

boontonbob said:
Hey Eric! - Interesting. I did a few dives in the Bahama but didn't see any.I believe they have been labeled as rare to see from my reading around five years ago. I have seen them in the Phillipines along a massive wall.
Click to expand...

The problem is they are becoming a much more common sighting within the past couple of years.
 
R

ReeferNets

Could this be the United States Crown of Thorns.

Think about out how hardy these fishy must be to live in waters not native to them. Over time they will evolve for our waters.

I truely do think our hobby is a huge factor in the destabilization the ocean. Pollution is probably number one but in regards to ruining eco systems we rank number one. From Lionfish to snakeheads to caluerpa we def contribute and most times dont concentrate on the conservation of our oceans which in turn will make our hobby better.

Just my two cents...
 
S

SI REEF

There are lionfish comming in from the gulfstream in the late summer months. I have seen angels butterflies damsels grouper triggers alantic burrfish squirlfish, all in shark river (belmar).
 
asonitez

asonitez

SI REEF said:
There are lionfish comming in from the gulfstream in the late summer months. I have seen angels butterflies damsels grouper triggers alantic burrfish squirlfish, all in shark river (belmar).
Click to expand...


So COOL I live right near Belmawr !!!!!!!!! I would setup a tank and go catch some of them.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

I read in that article that they are totally unafraid and that you could just bring a big zip lock bag and grab em. Supposedly one diver tried to sell 50 babies to a Long Island LFS...
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Maybe when the club does their dive this year, we'll see some.
I see we have a lot of new divers on here.
 
EricBa

EricBa

I could tell you that this particular Lionfish had no fear of me, zero. I could definitely swam up to it with a small net or bag and scooped him up. I guess that just shows that they have very few predators.

Eric
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top