08/02/2020
Creature Feature: Lionfish!
The lionfish is part of the scorpionfish family and is native to the Pacific Ocean.
There are 10 different species of lionfish, ranging in size from being only 5 cm long up to almost half a meter in length!
Most of the time you find these bad boys on coral reefs and in the rock crevices, showing off their charactaristic venomous spines. The spines are only for self protection though; when the lionfish hunts it will just flex its mouth, making it large enough to swallow its pray in just one bite. If low on other species to snack on, the lionfish will not be shy to eat one of their own. May the largest mouth win!
As for natural predators, the lionfish is most often eaten by sharks, larger eels, groupers, corner fish or other species of scorpionfish.
In our part of the world the ecosystem is at balance, but there are also places where the lionfish is not native and have quickly grown to be an invasive specie. With very few natural predators in their new area, and a high reproduction speed (a female lionfish can lay up to 30 000 eggs every 7 days!), this has put the marine ecosystem on edge. Some regions even pay divers to kill lionfish when spotted in an attempt to come to terms with this growing problem
Scientists are not exactly sure how this came to be, but the main theory seems to be pointing towards human involvement in their release into these areas.
Us humans really should learn not to mess with the original genius of Mother Nature!
