Are lionfish dangerous to the ocean?
Basically yes. The lionfish can survive all kinds of conditions and breed extremely fast making them and threat to our ocean-life. Lionfish have been spotted 1,000 feet deep, in cold waters off New York and they can even move into freshwater. With the appetite they have and the speed in which they mature and reproduce – yes they are dangerous, but how?
Well lets list just a few ways
- They have a voracious appetite and can eat a large number of fish . Their stomach can expand 30 times its size – that’s a lot of fish. Those fish are part of a food chain and removing just one species from the food chain can have devastating effects – and they are in the process of removing many species not just one.
- When lionfish appear on a reef within 2 years 60% – 90% of the reef fish have been eaten leaving the reef vulnerable. Many of those fish keep the corals alive and healthy by eating the algae that grows on it. Without those fish the corals could be smothered by the algae and die.
- Lionfish eat all the shrimp and juvenile fish that help keep fish healthy by cleaning them. Large fish swim up to them and stay still while the cleaner fish and cleaner shrimp eat the parasites and dead scales off the larger fish. They provide an important part in the health of many fish. Without them many more fish will be less healthy.
There are many more reasons why lionfish are dangerous to the ocean and everyone should know just how bad they are for our ecosystem. Please learn more and help us spread the word to everyone you know. It’s important we all know about the devastation that is happening to our reef fish and their environment.
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