Lionfish Showing Up Off Atlantic Coast

[hatrack]

CHARLESTON, S.C. - They are lovely to look at, but pack a painful sting and their numbers are growing, researchers say. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers released a report Thursday saying that an "increase in abundance" of lionfish off the East Coast is irreversible.

Fishermen and divers should not touch the maroon-striped, fan-finned beauty if they come across it. Its dorsal, pelvic and anal spines can deliver a painful sting similar to that of the stingray.

The fish is found in water as shallow as 3 feet in its native South Pacific, Indian Ocean and Red Sea tropics. Little is known about its potential seasonal behavior in the Southeast as the population grows, but it hasn't been found in less than 80 feet of water and it tends not to stray from the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, said NOAA biologist Paula Whitfield.

EDIT

There were lionfish sightings at three locations in the Southeast in 2000, 12 in 2001 and 41 in 2002 - including at least six off South Carolina, the NOAA report said. Researchers plan a sample count off North Carolina this summer. A 17-inch-long lionfish recently caught off Cape Lookout, N.C., is the first reported catch of one of the fish by hook and line, Whitfield said. Researchers think the invasive species spread from aquarium releases. Their effect was compared to that of the nuisance aquatic plant hydrilla."

EDIT

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/nation/8723826.htm

[northzax]

1. and this shows up in a Kansas paper?

strange, that. I'll trade you three Snakeheads and 10 million cicadas for your lionfish.

[hatrack]

2. Only if I get some zebra mussels and monk parakeets!!

;-)

[sybylla]

3. I'll throw in a few million Asian Lady Beetles to boot. eom

[jpak]

4. I'll see your Asian Lady Beetles

and raise you 1 billion Hemlock Woolly Adelgids!

[amandabeech]

5. I'll see your Hemlock Woolly Adelgids,

and raise you 2 billion Emerald Ash Borers.