| Bubbles
from the Naturalist Jerry's tank - by Jerry Ligon |
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Thought it would never happen, my unhappiness to report a new species of fish for Bonaire- but it happened on 26 October, 2009, when two guests of ours at Bonaire Dive and Adventure returned from a dive at Nukove and showed me a video they had just taken of Bonaire's official new species. They had been given the information during our mandatory orientation of what to do if one was spotted. They went to Stinapa headquarters and plans were made for Bonaire Marine Park Rangers, under the leadership of Ramon de Leon, to go back to Nukove and they made the capture. Jason Wright and Sean Murray are the guests that made the record books, and being advanced divers and concerned about the health of Bonaire's reefs, did the correct thing. Other opportunities were missed at other dive shops on Bonaire when the inclusion of Lionfish were not included in their orientation, but, hopefully now, everyone is on-board.
7.5 cm in length (2.9 inches) at 20 feet depth
Copyright and Photo by Kathy Beil-Morgan, Keepsake dive site, 18 November, 2009
As of now, 24 November, 2009, Bonaire's Marine Park Rangers have captured a total of 20 Lionfish and the sites have been from the far north, Wayaka, to the far south, Red Slave, and points in between. Measurement are taken and the captured fish are deposited with the scientists at CIEE here on Bonaire. They examine the stomach contents and preserve a sample to be sent for DNA finger printing. It is hoped that keeping this DNA data will help us to see some pattern to where our lionfish came from. The presence of these highly trained scientists (beautiful female marine biologists with at least a Masters in Marine Biology, with most of them having earned their Ph Ds.) at CIEE has been a welcomed addition. They are ''right in the thick of it", when it comes to educating future marine biologist, and collecting and intepretating data collected here concerning the environment. Watch their recently released video on YouTube concerning the sewage problem here on Bonaire. .
With the capture of the first lionfish for Bonaire, I was proven wrong in my assessment of our potential for finding these fish on Bonaire. Transport of the larval form of creatures born on the coral reefs of the Caribbean is the customary mode of a species spreading itself to other islands. Mature fish are reef-bound, but their newly hatched larvae are filled with wonder-lust at what the rest of the world might have in store, and can be carried by currents, and the direction that surface winds are blowing. We, here on Bonaire, are known as the Fish Capitol of the Caribbean because of our consistently strong winds blowing from the east. Looking to the east is a tremendous fish producing area-the northern coast of South America, and Bonaire is perfectly situated to receive these larval fish as they pass into their settlement stages after feeding and growing bigger, stronger as they travel toward Bonaire. This is an article about how some fish find a new home.
With this information, I incorrectly assumed that lionfish would have to become established along the coast of Venezuela, east of us, in order for their larvae to be able to "ride the winds and currents to Bonaire." But there have been no reports of lionfish found off the Venezuelan coast to our east, so the question that every biologist is now asking is "How did these buggers get here?"
The above wind map is almost always looking like this one, no matter what the date is.
I have considered the possibility of the lionfish larvae getting here in the ballast of ships, cruise ships and cargo. Correspondence with two knowledgeable and concerned scientific types revealed the following information. First. from Ned DeLoach:
"Good morning, sorry about the new arrivals, but from what I saw in Sept. Bonaire is up to the task of at least keeping the buggers off west coast and Klein reefs. We just got back from Bermuda where theyhave an active, trained group that has been assigned sections of the reef to monitor. I believe this approach has merit." Ballast water has been ruled out. These guys are spreading much faster in the Caribbean than expected, but we known a nickels worth about the spread of larval fishes. Thanks so much for staying in contact. Ned"
Then, from Ramon, Bonaire Marine Park manager:
"Just a quick note …..cruise ships do not move ballast water. They do have ballast water but do not dump it in port since their cargo doesn’t change. Second, some people have studied already this possibility and couldn’t find any correlation between lionfish spread pattern and cruise ship traffic. I'm not saying that is impossible but highly improbable."
But, we must consider the chance that a mass of floating eggs of lionfish could have been taken in by some cargo ship that did take in ballast water as they replaced the weight of cargo delivered to some Caribbean island that already was known as a lionfish site. That cargo ship will continue its delivery route to other islands and they do exchange their ballast. This is the almost certain method of spread in the Great Lakes of the U.S. of the invasive species from the Pacific of the Zebra Mussel and the Round Goby, so, I have to consider this possibility.
Studying as much data about the lionfish in the Caribbean as I can get my hands on, I have read that the darker color of our lionfish in the juvenile stage matches most closely the same characteristic of the juvenile lionfish from the Phillipines.
The initial capture, in the Atlantic/Caribbean, of the first lionfish through pet store purchase and subsequent release was off Dania, Florida, in 1985. Then the release from a sea-side acquarium after the passage of Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, was a further step in setting us up for the horrific results that we are experiencing . Since then, we can only imagine many further releases from acquariums up and down the Atlantic coast by inconsiderate (read STUPID) humans who tire of their potentially harmful "pet", who have no concern about what impact we humans are having on our planet.
An excellent source of information about the invasion of lionfish can be found at http://nas.er.usgs.gov/.
From this source: Impact of Introduction: Recent research by Albins and Hixon (2008) provides the first evidence of negative effects of lionfish on native Atlantic coral-reef fishes. The recruitment of coral-reef fishes was studied during the 2007 recruitment period (July-August) on small patch reefs in the Bahamas with and without a single lionfish. Over the five week period, net recruitment (i.e., accumulation of new juvenile fishes via settlement of larvae) was reduced by 79% on reefs with lionfish compared to reefs without lionfish. Stomach content analyses and observations of feeding behavior showed that reductions in native fish density were almost certainly due to predation by lionfish. Prey items found in lionfish stomachs included the fairy basslet Gramma loreto, bridled cardinalfish Apogon aurolineatus, white grunt Haemulon plumierii, bicolor damselfish Stegastes pertitus, several wrasses Halichoeres bivittatus, H. garnoti and Thalasoma bifasciatum, striped parrotfish Scarus iserti, and dusky blenny Malacoctenus gilli. Initial examination of crustacean prey suggests that lionfish may also eat the juvenile spiny lobster Panulirus argus. The reduction in recruitment of coral-reef fishes suggests that lionfish may also compete with native piscivores by monopolizing this important food resource. In addition, lionfish have the potential to decrease the abundance of ecologically important species such as parrotfish and other herbivorous fishes that keep seaweeds and macroalgae from overgrowing corals.
Jake Montgomery and I ..have both seen two lionfish here in Bonaire. Both of us, as well as the other dive masters carry bright, yellow tape in our BCs in order to accurately mark the location of any that we come across as we lead divers from our boats. On Thursday, 19 November, 2009, I found my second one at Karpata, rattled my Rattle-Alert, and showed all the divers with me what a juvenile lionfish looked like. I must emphasize that these young ones are very dark, with faint stripes which will show more contrast as they mature. I describe a juvenile as looking more like a small individual Long-spined Urchin, and they are usually under an overhang, in the shadows during the day time. They feed at night and rest in dark places during the day. This particular lionfish was at 60 feet and I immediately surfaced and swam back to the boat to call Ramon on my cell. Their first attempt was unsuccessful in the afternoon, but they returned of Friday and made the capture.
In closing, I must brag about us divers here on Bonaire. Of the more than 100,000 fish surveys conducted through REEF, throughout the entire Tropical Atlantic, it is quite remarkable that over 17,000 have been conducted here on Bonaire, or 17% of the total for the entire Caribbean/Atlantic. We are concerned about our Bonairean coral reefs, and our divers are probably the most informed divers anywhere, and we scrutinize the reef better than anyone, and this, hopefully will keep us on top of this horrific invasion.
It is not necessary for spear guns or pole spears to be used, because the current techniques that the rangers are using are sufficient, for the time being. We ask divers to remain diligent and carefully scrutinize the reefs when diving so that we can knock the stuffing out of the lionfish.
Stay up on the spread of lionfish by visiting the USGS website Double clicking next to Bonaire continues to enlarge the map.
LIONFISH ON BONAIRE
1 26 Oct, 2009 Nukove 20m 5.0cm (1.9 in)
2 27 Oct Playa Lechi 50 ft 5.7 cm (2.2 in)
3 30 Oct Red Slave 60ft 4.6cm (1.8 in)
4 31 Oct Invisibles 70ft 7.3cm (2.8 in)
5 2 nov Invisibles (distended belly) 75ft 7.5cm
6 2 nov Salt Pier 8ft 5.7cm (2.4 in)
7 5 nov, Jeff Davis 60 ft 7.2cm (2.8 in)
8 5 nov, Oil Slick, 60ft 6.9cm (2.7 in)
9 9 nov Invisibles 60ft 7.3cm (2.8 in)
10 9 nov Bonbini Na Kas 18ft 6.2 cm (2.4 in)
11 11nov Something Special 30ft 7.3cm (2.8 in)
12 14 nov Punt Vierkaant 60ft 6.7cm (2.6 in)
13 14nov Andrea 1 38 ft 7.2cm (2.8 in)
14 15 Nov, Wayaka 2 30 ft 7.9cm (3.1 in)
15 17 nov Small Wall 50 ft 8.4 cm (3.3 in)
16 18 nov Keepsake 20ft 7.5cm (2.9 in)
17 18nov Punt Vierkaant 50ft 8.1cm (3.1 in)
18 18 nov Witches Hut 35ft 7.7cm (3.0 in)
19 18nov Bonaventure 50ft 8.5cm (3.3 in)
20 18nov Eden Beach 60ft 8.3cm (3.2 in)
21 19 nov North Belnam 25ft 8.4cm (3.3 in)
22 20nov Karpata 60ft 7.2cm (2.8 in)
23 20nov Oil Slick 80ft 8.2cm (3.2 in)
24 20nov Margate Bay 60ft 8.9cm (3.5 in)
25 24 Nov INVISIBLES 36 ft 9.7cm (3.8 in)
26 1 Dec Some. Special 107 ft 9.4cm (3.7 in)
27 2 Dec Karpata 42 ft 10.2 cm (4.0 in)
28 3 Dec RED SLAVE 12 ft 10.4 cm (4.0 in)
29 4 Dec JEFF DAVIS 58ft 10.4 cm (4.0 in)
30 7 Dec Forest 58 ft 9.2cm (3.6 in)
31 7 Dec Mi Dushi 24 ft 10.5cm (4.1 in)
32 8 Dec Richard's Res. 73 ft 10.1cm (3.9in)
33 9 Dec Red Berryl 34 ft 10.2 cm (4.0in)
34 9 Dec Hilma Hooker 48 ft 10.2cm (4.0 in)
35 13-Dec-09 Petries Pillar 36ft 11.6cm (4.5in)
36 14-Dec-09 Tori's Reef 33ft 10.0cm (3.9in)
37 14-Dec-09 Mi Dushi (Klein) 50ft 9.6cm (3.8in)
38 15-Dec-09 Angel City 38ft 11.6cm (4.5in)
39 17-Dec-09 Cliff 93ft 12.2cm (4.8in)
40 22-Dec-09 Nukove 61ft 13.3cm (5.2in)
41 22-Dec-09 Hands Off 60ft 11.7cm (4.6in)
42 26-Dec-09 Yellow Sub/Playa Lechi 60ft 13.3cm (5.2in)
43 24-Dec-09 Pink Beach 40ft 11.7cm (4.6in)
44 27-Dec-09 Rappel 80ft 12.7cm (5.0in)
45 27-Dec-09 Salt Pier 68ft 12.6cm (4.9in)
46 2-Jan-10 Tori's Reef 30ft 10.3cm (4in)
47 26 Dec-09 Invisibles 55ft 12.8cm (5.0in)
48 4Jan-10 Tori's Reef 95ft 12.9cm (5.1in)
49 6 Jan-10 Petrie's Pillar 65 ft 12.7cm (5in)
50 6 Jan-10 Andrea11 65ft 13.5cm (5.3in)
51 8 Jan-10 Pink Beach 78ft 14cm (5.5in)
52 10 Jan-10 Joanna's Sunchi 67ft 12.7cm (5in)
53 13 Jan-10 Nearest Point 23ft 13.6cm (5.35in)
54 12 Jan-10 Belmar 85ft 15.5cm (6.1in)
55 13 Jan-10 Webber's Joy 15ft 13.1cm (5.15in)
56 13 Jan-10 Andrea 11 70ft 16.2cm (6.3in)
57 14 Jan-10 Tailor-made 70ft 16.1cm (6.3in)
58 Jan 15,-10 Witches Hut 38ft 14.3cm (5.6in)
59 Jan 16-10 Wayaka2 62ft 15cm (5.9in)
60 Jan 17-10 Some. Special 83ft 14.9cm (5.8in)
61 Jan 15-10 Red Slave 33ft 13.8cm (5.4in)
62 Jan 13-10 Lac Cai Channel 16ft 13.6cm (5.3in)
63 Jan 17-10 Margate Bay 78ft 15.6cm (6.1in)
64 Jan 16-10 Hilma H 2nd Reef 75ft 14.4cm (5.6in)
65 Jan 16-10 Nearest Point 75ft 14.8cm (5.8in)
66 Jan 19-10 Atlantis 78ft 8.7cm (3.4in)
67 Jan 21-10 Alice 73ft 16cm (6.3in)
68 Jan 21-10 Alice 60ft 14.4cm (5.6in)
69 Jan 22-10 Some, Special 20ft 13.8cm (5.4in)
70 Jan 23-10 Atlantis 78ft 16cm (6.3in)
71 Jan 24-10 Carl's Hill 75 ft 14.2cm (5.6in)
72 Jan26-10 Red Slave 125ft 16.8cm (6.6in)
73 Jan 26-10 Red Slave 125ft 14.2cm (5.6in)
74 Jan 27-10 White Slave 80ft 15.3cm (6in)
27 January 2010: Dr Peachey mentioned, on Jan 14 update , that immature eggs where found in some of the females, indicating they are approaching sexual maturity (bad news). In this Update, dated 27 Jan., note that two lionfish were captured at the same depth, 125ft at Red Slave and on the same date. Wonder how close these two were to each other. Please note proximity of any two, and note if one might be orientating toward the other, and note direction of current, if any. Females may be releasing pheromones upon reaching sexual maturity that would be picked up by down-current males Jerry
14 January 2010 : From Dr. Peachey, CIEE. "Females are showing egg development."
Cannot change the course of biology! We can only hope that the numbers of adults are so low and dispersed on the reefs of Bonaire, that they have trouble finding one another. Fat chance. Males most likely find gravid females by smell. We must be even more diligent in removing them now that they have approached the adult size. The day that we all dread is when new, young ones are being reported.