Poisonous Lionfish Invading Florida Waters!
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Scientists are saying poisonous lionfish will soon be invading South Florida’s waters.
The lionfish, a native of the Pacific Ocean, might be a looker but don’t let that fool you… they’re coverered in poisonous fins. The sting pretty much burns like fire and lasts for about 15 to 20 minutes. It can land you in the hospital or even kill you. There is no anti-venom.
Apparently, as lionfish grow too big, aquarium owners dump the fish right into the Atlantic and now they’re breeding like crazy.
Consider yourselves warned…
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ok this may sound dumb bc it could jus be a pic of one in an aquarium but if its not and the photographer found this one in the ocean, why not just catch it and we will have one less threat in the area? lol but again, that may be idiotic to say
that one may of been in the right place but why not sell fish like that unless the shop has proof of you owning the right size tank the show where i got my fish he would not sell me my fish until i got the right size of a tank
I bet you could sell it to an unsuspecting sushi restaurant.
Herds of Lionfish the size of SUVs are now taking over Florida’s beaches… former pet owners to blame. They’ve already been here people, and they don’t hunt humans. Just don’t pester them, grab them or try to give ‘em a big kiss.
I just read this and wanted to include that last year, at Watercolor Resort near Destin, my son — age 41/2 and his cousins thought they were pretty and were catching them with their nets!!!!! They look just like seaweed! We’ll keep an eye out on our trip this year.
They are a problem, they compete with native fishes for food, no known predators. If stung by a spine you can apply hot but not burning or scalding water to reduce pain. The fish are edible. Carefully break off the spines before preparing for cooking. Updates on the distribution of invasive lionfish and other species can be found at:
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/taxgroup/fish/lionfishdistribution.asp