Gallery · 1985 to today

Lionfish in Florida

An aquarium fish gets loose, why lionfish win, and Florida's plan to eat them.

1985 to today

An aquarium fish gets loose

biologyhistorytrade & commercialization

Lionfish are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The first one recorded in the Atlantic was off Dania Beach, Florida, in 1985, most likely released from a home aquarium. Within 25 years they had spread up the East Coast, across the Caribbean and through the Gulf, including reefs off Southwest Florida.

How can a few released pets turn into millions of wild fish?

Sources: USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species, Pterois volitans and miles fact sheet; Schofield, Geographic extent and chronology of the invasion of lionfish, Aquatic Invasions 4 (2009)

Illustration: Urbanicity house studio (SI-generated)

Ongoing

Why lionfish win

biology

Lionfish have no natural predators here, eat almost any small fish or shrimp, and a female can release about two million eggs a year (estimate). Their spines are venomous, which means a sting injects toxin, but their meat is safe to eat. Studies found lionfish can cut young native reef fish on a reef by about 80 percent in weeks.

What makes an invader successful in a new place?

Sources: Albins and Hixon, Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish reduce recruitment of Atlantic coral-reef fishes, Marine Ecology Progress Series 367 (2008); NOAA, Lionfish biology

Illustration: Urbanicity house studio (SI-generated)

2014 to today

Eat them to beat them

economicsbiologytrade & commercialization

Florida banned importing live lionfish in 2014, encourages divers to remove them with no license needed for certain gear, and runs an annual Lionfish Challenge with prizes. Some restaurants and grocers now sell lionfish, turning a pest into a product. Removal can keep numbers down on single reefs but cannot end the invasion.

Can a market for eating an invader help a reef, and what could go wrong?

Sources: Florida FWC, Lionfish; Florida FWC, Lionfish Challenge

Illustration: Urbanicity house studio (SI-generated)

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