Scientists Create Robotic Terminator To Hunt 'Darwin's Nightmare' Fish

[FLPanhandle]

http://gizmodo.com/scientists-create-robotic-terminator-to-hunt-darwins-ni-1786175940



Hordes of lionfish have been roaming the Atlantic for several decades now, and their voracious appetite—and lack of natural predators—has seriously upset the ecological balance of those waters. Now there’s a new foundation devoted to building robots to hunt them down—a Terminator for lionfish.

The prototypes under development are technically cousins to robotic vacuum cleaners, because iRobot CEO Colin Angle is one of the founders of Robots in the Service of the Environment (RISE). He and his wife, biochemist Erika Ebbel, were visiting friends in Bermuda, and the group went diving one day, along with a marine specimen collector named Chris Flook. It was Flook who regaled with with stories of the invasive lionfish, and RISE was born—a sky net for lionfish.

Lionfish have been dubbed “Darwin’s nightmare” because of their tremendous adaptability. They are flexible in what they eat, they can thrive in many different environments (salt water or fresh, cold water or warm), and they reproduce like crazy, all year round, rather than having a particular breeding season. Plus they have venomous spikes, discouraging potential predators from eating them in turn.

That makes lionfish a particularly problematic invasive species. Originally from the Indo-Pacific region, the bright stripes and frilly fins of the lionfish made it a popular choice for exotic pet owners. Those same owners likely dumped adult lionfish into public waters in the mid-1980s, and the species reproduced like gangbusters, with devastating ecological results.

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I think governments should start paying good money for people to hunt these SOB's down.

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! n/t

[tandem5]

2. "problematic invasive species" that has a "lack of natural predators and has seriously upset

the ecological balance."

Wait are we Darwin's nightmare? Cue Keanu Reeves...

[quaker bill]

3. They are tasty and very easy to catch

divers gig them and can clean up a school of them very quickly. They apparently have no fear of predators, and do not run and hide. So the divers just pick then off one at a time until their bag is full. A diver can make hundreds of dollars each dive selling them to restaurants and fish markets.

I think the answer is in the fryer.

[roamer65]

4. If they go good with tartar sauce, I'm in. N/t