DIVING FORLIONFISH 



ivers are ready. Dive, dive, dive." 

 On this signal, researchers disappear from 

 the rear of the R/V Cape Fear several times a day 

 into choppy blue water. They descend 120 to 140 

 feet in search of lionfish. 



The Cape Fear rocks 49 miles off 

 Wilmington near the sunken dredge Porta Allegro 

 — or what divers call the "Lobster Wreck." 

 With its many ledges, Porta Allegro is a favorite 

 hangout for lionfish. 



"I think we are going to find out that they 

 are very prolific," says Paula Whitfield, marine 

 biologist at the Center for Coastal Fisheries and 

 Habitat Research, a National Oceanic and Atmo- 

 spheric Administration (NOAA) lab in Beaufort. 



Whitfield and her crew carry spears and 

 specimen bags in expectation of a large catch of 

 the invasive creature native to Pacific waters. The 

 scientists lead the first Atlantic study on lionfish, 

 a joint project by NOAA's National Undersea 

 Research Center (NURC) at the University of 

 North Carolina at Wilmington, and the National 

 Centers of Coastal Ocean Science. 



IDENTIFYING A NEW 

 INVASIVE THREAT 



Recent newspaper and online headlines 

 sound like sci-fi thrillers. "Waters posing possible 

 health threat." 'Toxic lionfish spotted off North 

 Carolina." "Lionfish could turn up off Delaware 

 Coast." Although a popular fish for marine 

 aquariums, lionfish released in the Atlantic 

 threaten local ecosystems and pose dangers to 

 divers and fisherman. 



The lionfish is the first marine invasive 

 fish known to have established itself in Atlantic 

 waters, according to Whitfield. So far, only Pterois 

 volitans specimens have been identified, but 

 genetic studies continue. 



In the meantime, Whitfield says the lionfish 

 is becoming the poster child for marine invasive 

 species, already having been named "invasive 

 species of the month" in June 2004 by the 

 National Invasive Species Council. 



"This fish has everything going for it — it 



u g h n e r 



has venomous spines, it eats everything, and to top 

 it off, it has these eggs that free float," Whitfield 

 says of the fish that has few known predators. 



Fleshy tentacles, fanning pectoral fins and 

 elongated dorsal spines protrude from this fish in 

 an exotic array of armor dressed in maroon, red 

 and white warning colors. If lionfish spines are 

 touched by humans, they may cause an extremely 

 painful sting, resulting in swelling and in rare 

 cases paralysis. 



Also, the lionfish is near the top of the food 

 chain, at least in its native range. This voracious 

 predator stalks deep waters for shrimp, fish and 

 small crab, wielding expanded pectoral fins strate- 

 gically to comer prey until one sudden, debilitat- 

 ing bite prepares the meal to be swallowed whole. 



To spawn, the lionfish releases a floating 

 "mucous balloon of eggs" that drifts within the 

 water column. In the Atlantic, the eggs and larvae 

 likely are transported by Gulf Stream flow, which 

 disperses the population and exacerbates the lion- 

 fish invasion, according to the National Invasive 

 Species Council. 



In addition, the lionfish seems to adapt easily 

 to warm waters across the globe. The native range 

 of the lionfish spans the subtropical and tropi- 

 cal reef waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, 

 and the Red Sea. Along the East Coast, water 

 temperature appears to be the only factor limiting 

 distribution, Whitfield says. 



Divers' reports indicate that lionfish existed 

 in the early 1990s off the Florida coast — after 

 unsubstantiated reports cited the release of six 

 lionfish during Hurricane Andrew into Biscayne 

 Bay in 1992. However, lionfish were not officially 

 reported in the Atlantic until August 2000. when 

 divers spotted them off North Carolina. 



Since then, adult lionfish as long as 17 

 inches have been observed and caught from 

 Florida to Cape Hatteras, usually on wrecks and 

 natural hardbottom at depths of 85 to 300 feet. In 

 warmer seasons, juvenile lionfish are reported as 

 far north as New York and as far east as Bermuda. 



Scientists will never be sure exacdy how 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 17 



TOP: Tiny lionfish eggs appear larger under a microscope. 

 True eggdiameter is less than one millimeter. MIDDLE: 

 Researchers display their catch on deck of the R/V Cape 

 Fear. BOTTOM: These hungry juveniles are part of a 

 study to identify the age of maturation for lionfish. 



