OMG! Look at this Lion I caught!!!!

[sryder]

ill put a little away for that trip to the bahamas someday.

 

[Krish]

ill put a little away for that trip to the bahamas someday.

Sounds great!!! Hopefully the lion fish will leave some fish for you to see :doubt:

This whole thing started out as COOL when I found him!!! Now that I found out that they shouldn't be here, makes it depressing. Now I see why the Bahamian gov't doesn't want foreign marine life brought in. Not sure how this one got here (if him and maybe others swam here or someone tossed him in here) but they need to enforce things a bit more now. If I have to do without, aw well...I can live with that and can always go to the beach to see what I want to see. I feel kind of bad having my clowns which were brought in as well as my tang. Just knowing it can be done is depressing. I know personally I would never toss my fish in the ocean if I didn't want them anymore, but not everyone thinks like me which makes it depressing...The Bahamian government needs to crack down now! I would be more than happy and willing to do without, than to have our waters screwed up...

 

[mattseattle]

I wished more people thought like that Krish.

 

[Krish]

I wished more people thought like that Krish.

Thanks Matt. Me too...You know how eveyone is always playing around and giving me a hard time about stocking up my tank? Well, it's because of the kind of person I am why my tank isn't loaded. Yeah, I have OCD and don't want my tank all messy but more than that, I'm not interested in messing up a natural reef or breaking any major laws by importing corals. My fish, I got knowing I really shouldn't (also because the government is so slack and therefore doesn't really check) but mostly because I knew I would take care of them and would never introduce them into our waters. The same with wild caught fish. I have one wrasse in my tank I caught locally and 1 coral bandit shrimp. They are pretty much screwed if I don't want them because there is only 2 places they can go from here if I don't want them. A friend's tank who I know will repect things the way I do or I kill it. Being in the tank with "foreign" fish is too risky to toss back so that is the reason I don't put a lot of fish in my tank. I will only get it if I know I will want to keep it...

 

[wrightme43]

Yeah they dont belong in the atlantic. I am sure they are breeding and spreading. Its really not very likely that you found the only one in the whole bahamas island chain.

 

[Krish]

Yeah they dont belong in the atlantic. I am sure they are breeding and spreading. Its really not very likely that you found the only one in the whole bahamas island chain.

Yeah Steve...You are right. I talked to Andrew's brother about 10 minutes ago and he said that a customer who came into their LFS a few weeks ago said he caught one as well. When people tell me that we have clowns in our waters and that they see them all the time, I never believe them. I guess it is possible that they may be right now that I think of it...

 

[spongebob lover]

ohh boy dood !!
hehe i can't believe you found a lion fish .
On the good side... i like your coral .

 

[wrightme43]

Hey Krish, the most likely scenario is that several loads of peleargic (sp?) larvae were sucked up in ballast water and moved to the atlantic. The hobby trade is not the big mover of species that ships are. Look at the great lakes, and water transport ways all over the world. Thats really the only way to get a breeding population.
What I mean is two or three fish from hobbiest, are not a long term viable breeding population. The bad recessive genes will kill them off in a few generations. At least thats what I think, and every body here knows I am at least halfway nuts.

 

[Fishead77]

Hey krish, I live in the Northwest and do alot of fishing. My first thought was how the heck did you get it off the hook?

 

[bc_slc]

did you catch him with bait or with a net? I can't really picture either... crazy

Mat

 

[matts125]

hey Krish judging the article that finn posted if you see anymore maybe you should catch them, and ofcourse over night them my my address!!! :lol:

Matt

 

[Krish]

LOL...I caught him with a net. Twice at that! I caught him,put him back on the small reef and went back about 1 hour later and caught him again. Maybe the government will allow the export of them and can send them all your way!

Gabby, I didn't keep that coral. I put that back as well

 

[gman0526]

There were rumors of Scuba charters off NC introducing these fish to nearby wrecks to attract more tourists/divers so they could be seen in their "natural habitat" . But AFAIK it was only a rumor and it was never supported by evidence.

Here's more reading for those interested:

http://www.reef.org/data/meps_exotic.pdf

http://massbay.mit.edu/exoticspecies/

http://www.aquaticinvaders.org/nan_links.cfm

http://invasivespecies.nbii.gov/report.html

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the links Jorge!

 

[jlehigh]

What a beauty Krish.. If it's 4-5 inches it is still a juvinille and only a few months old. More than likely an offspring. As with anything else in the wild including us people.. Transportation = change. There always seems to be a balance or new norm reached eventually.

 

[Krish]

What a beauty Krish.. If it's 4-5 inches it is still a juvinille and only a few months old. More than likely an offspring. As with anything else in the wild including us people.. Transportation = change. There always seems to be a balance or new norm reached eventually.

No doubt a very beautiful fish. It is amazing how good he can hide around a reef. The second time I went after him, he was in a hole and he's black and the hole was dark, so I barely saw him. I'm sure tons of Bahamaians will end up in the hospital while spear fishing this summer. They love to stick their hands in reefs looking for crawfish. They will get a big surprise!

 

[ethanriley]

Heh Guys thanks for all the feedback particularly your article Martin. Krish and I had discussed several ways the larvae might have gotten here. I put in a call to the lead marine biologist this morning, but he hasnt returned my call yet. I was so distressed when Krish called me that I was praying he was wrong. We have so many protected grouper breeding sites down here as well as the third largest barrier reef in the world I would hate to think we are now supporting a large population but it doesn't look good and like Krish said this is a very popular beach where young kids are swimming all the time and snorkeling. I would hate for one of them to stick their hands under a rock as my brother and I so often do. Looks like Krish and I and who ever else we can get need to do some serious eradication this summer. Perhaps I can finally get that commercial permit I have been pushing the fisheries for. Krish thanks for starting the thread if anyone has any more information on eradication and managment it wouldbe greatly appreciated as the authorities down here are very often behind the times and hobbyists have to bring them up to speed.

 

[Krish]

Krish thanks for starting the thread if anyone has any more information on eradication and managment it wouldbe greatly appreciated as the authorities down here are very often behind the times and hobbyists have to bring them up to speed

Not sure how you are going to get rid of them other than us catching them when we see them and removing them. I doubt the government will give a crap right now. No-one is complaining about it yet (fisherman) that the fish supply is low so until then, I doubt they will give the "idea" the time nor day. Your brother told me last night that a customer came into Modernistic lately and said he caught one as well. So if they are around Nassau and made their way here by water from Florida, then they are definately around Grand Bahama and Bimini as well...

 

[Dragonfly]

Guy's I seriously doubt wether the lion fish will have any effect on the fish population at all. Lion fish are in abundance on our coastline and can be cught in rockpools on most beaches. The chances of getting stung by one are also less likely. Most Crayfisherman use gloves when diving anyway.

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the reply Anthony Unlike most fisherman, Bahamian's are sort of careless...Trust me. They do things here only seen in the movies so I can see someone getting hurt(LOL) Hopefully the lionfish won't cause any major problems with our natural fish population. It is something to think about when you have something not native to your waters, in it. Time will tell for sure...