Lionfish are native to the Pacific Ocean, but in recent years they’ve been appearing in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, including in Gray’s Reef, Florida Keys, Flower Garden Banks and Monitor national marine sanctuaries.
With 18 venomous spines, they’re dangerous for divers in those areas.
But it’s not just humans that are at risk: lionfish are threatening entire ecosystems.
These fish have voracious appetites, and outside the Pacific they have no natural predators. A thousand lionfish can consume 5 million prey fish in a single year.
So you can see how their impacts can begin to add up. Researchers in affected national marine sanctuaries are studying these fish to understand what they’re eating, and are working to remove them from their invaded habitats. You can help, too, by participating in lionfish derbies and eating lionfish at home and in restaurants.
Lionfish aren’t the only invasive species in national marine sanctuaries, though. In Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron, zebra and quagga mussels compete with native mussel species.
Each one of these bivalves can filter up to a liter of water each day and alter food webs as a result. They also degrade the integrity of many of the Great Lakes’ historic shipwrecks.
Another invasive species, orange cup coral, has established itself throughout the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, including in Flower Garden Banks and Florida Keys national marine sanctuaries.
This bright coral thrives on artificial substrates like shipwrecks and oil and gas platforms; in Flower Garden Banks it is also expanding into the natural reef.
As it colonizes these spaces, orange cup coral leaves less and less room for native corals and sponges.
The good news is, that from research to removal efforts to targeting your culinary adventuring, we can help protect these fragile ecosystems from invasive species.
