Lionfish Invasion "Worst Environmental Disaster Atlantic Will Ever Face", Devour Native Species As Population Explodes

Lionfish cannot be stopped from their invasive consumption in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, researchers report. Scientists are calling the even the "worst environmental disaster the Atlantic will ever face".

The voracious lionfish is an invasive species and predators have been unable to curb the lionfish's impact on smaller fish.

Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific region and have invaded both Caribbean and Atlantic waters in the Gulf of Mexico, seemingly unceasingly. Local fish populations are threatened and predators don't seem to affect the lionfish.

"The lionfish invasion is probably the worst environmental disaster the Atlantic will ever face," said Graham Maddocks, who is the president and founder of Ocean Support Foundation, an agency that works with with the government and research agencies to help reduce the lionfish population in Bermuda.

Ecologist James Morris with the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science said that the explosion in the lionfish population has the makings of a disaster. He said the lionfish has brought a "big change in biodiversity," and it is what he called "the most abundant top-level predator on some coral reefs (in the Atlantic)."

"When I began diving 10 years ago, lionfish were a rare and mysterious species seen deep within coral crevices in the Pacific Ocean," said Serena Hackerott, lead study author University of North Carolina graduate student. "They can now been seen across the Caribbean, hovering above the reefs throughout the day and gathering in groups of up to ten or more on a single coral head."

Green, another researcher, was shocked to find the amount of lionfish they did on the dive. "We expected some populations of lionfish at that depth, but their numbers and size were a surprise.

She added, "This was kind of an 'Ah hah!' moment. It was immediately clear that this is a new frontier in the lionfish crisis, and that something is going to have to be done about it. Seeing it up-close really brought home the nature of the problem."

Lionfish are popular aquarium pets thanks to their flowing fins and distinctive patterns. This may have caused the lionfish explosion. Scientists think it's likely that someone dumped aquarium water into the ocean, thus releasing it into the wild.

Native predators, such as sharks and groupers, haven't stopped the red lionfish from spreading throughout the Carribean. Human intervention may be needed.

Lionfish have been known to reduce native fish populations by as much as 80 percent. Their population has exploded, and the lionfish themselves hae gotten much bigger.

In addition, the loss of smaller fish may pave the road for loss of seaweed and disruption of the ecosystem.