Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Lionfish Eating Each Other as Prey Become Scarce

While still a rare occurrence, as prey fish populations are declining, some lionfish are turning to cannibalism.  Two recent surveys of stomach contents reported that 4 of 130 lionfish in the Bahamas had consumed other lionfish and in 16 intact lionlish specimen in 157 stomachs in Mexico.  Unfortunately, this probably won't become a natural lionfish population limiting practice.

lionfish (Pterois volitans) by Rebekah D. Wallace, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org

Source Article:  This Beautiful But Destructive Fish Is Resorting to Cannibalism
Lionfish Cannibalism in Mexico: Monitoring an Alien Invasion: DNA Barcoding and the Identification of Lionfish and Their Prey on Coral Reefs of the Mexican Caribbean
Lionfish Images: Pterois volitans
Lionfish BugwoodWiki: Pterois volitans