Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here. The lionfish, also called the turkey fish and firefish, is striking with its warning colored maroon, brown and white stripes, elegant fan like fins that resemble a lion's mane or turkey's tail when fanned out,
and the seeming mohawk of sharp spikes. But this pretty fish, popular ornamental species among saltwater aquarium enthusiasts, has also managed to infiltrate tropical waters worldwide, where it's been greatly reducing native fish populations and thus wreaking havoc on delicate reef ecosystems.
While no one can pinpoint exactly how this alien invasion occurred beyond the species native Indo Pacific region, the population explosion is likely to have begun off the Atlantic coast in the mid nineteen eighties, when some irresponsible aquarium owner dumped unwanted lionfish into the wild. Never do that, by the way, with any fish. It's cruel to the fish, bad for the ecosystem, and illegal in many places to boot.
Ocean currants and hurricanes have since aided the lionfish is spread from Florida's Atlantic coast to the Bahamas, throughout the Caribbean Sea, and into the Gulf of Mexico. They're mostly found in warm tropical waters within a variety of habitats, from rocky bottoms to coral and artificial reefs, and can be seen at depths of up to three hundred feet or about ninety meters. We spoke by email with Alex Lawler, a senior aquarist at the Aquarium of the Pacific in
Long Beach, California. She said lionfish have been a problem as an invasive species in the Atlantic Ocean since the first sighting in Florida. An invasive species is a species that's introduced to a new environment where they have little to no predators and cause harm to the native species. In the case of the lionfish, with no natural predators within the Atlantic Ocean, they eat small fish and crustaceans, often the juveniles of important commercial species such as snapper.
They're slow moving ambush predators, sneaking up on their prey and use their large mouths to swallow prey hole. A line fish can expand its stomach more than thirty times in volume when eating a large meal. It's also capable of long term fasting and can go without food for more than twelve weeks. As for their natural predators in the Indo Pacific and Red Sea, they include sharks, grouper, large eels, frogfish, and scorpion fish, to whom they are
closely related. As an invasive species, it doesn't help matters that lionfish start reproducing when they're less than a year old, can lay up to thirty thousand eggs every four days and can keep spawning year round, which means that they can erase about eighty percent of a reef fairly quickly. Research has shown that a rapid increase in lionfish coincided with a sixty five percent native fish decline in the Atlantic during just two year period. Lionfish are also venomous.
Their venom glands are located within a number of dorsal, pelvic and anal spines, and the spines contain grooves filled with tissue that can produce the venom. The spines have to pierce human skin in order to transfer the venom to a person. A lawler said, we've not heard of any cases where lionfish sting has proven to be fatal. A sting can cause extreme pain, sweating, respiratory distress, and
even paralysis that can last for days. The venom is a combination of protein, a r muscular toxin, and an arrow transmitter. If you're stung by lionfish, seek medical attention immediately. As with many other animals, the best and safest way to enjoy seeing lionfish is to observe them from a distance. The lawler said. Keep an eye out for their distinctive coloration when spending time and environments known to be home
to lionfish. Be continuously observant of where you put your hands and feet in the water, as lionfish often like to rest along ledges and crevices during the day. It is legal to keep lionfish's pets here in the US, though as always read up on the species before adding one to your tank. The lawler said, it is illegal
to release a lion fish into the wild. There are a few kinds of lionfish available for purchase at most pet stores, with some of the best species for home enthusiasts including the Russell's lionfish, spot finned lionfish, and dwarf fuzzy lionfish. While most of these fish have the same needs, they are different sizes and will require different tank sizes. Being rather aggressive predators, lionfish should not be put in a tank with any smaller fish, crabs, or shrimp because
they will likely devour them. All that being said, people do eat lionfish. People can safely catch, cook, and consume lionfish as long as they avoid those venom producing spines. Lionfish apparently have a very mild white meat that can be prepared in several ways, from grilling to blackened to
being served raw as sushi. The lawler noted that somepla is in the Caribbean where lion fish are found, are also hot spots for sigwatara fish poisoning, which is an illness that humans can get by eating reef fish that are contaminated with the sigwatara toxin, which is produced by microorganisms that live in the water and gets passed up the food chain. As with any fishing or other food collection, always consult best practices and local guides to learn how
to obtain and eat foods safely. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or f WC, has numerous incentive programs to entice recreational and commercial scuba divers to harvest invasive lionfish. One of the most successful is a derby, where spearfishing divers spend a day working together to remove as many lion fish as they can, with the largest Derby's awarding prizes to the teams or individuals who catch the biggest, smallest,
or most lionfish. Today's episode was written by Wendy Bonan and produced by tile Or Clay or More on this amounts of other topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio or more podcasts. My heart Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.