Lionfish Facts

While snorkeling around the Caribbean coral reefs, you might find yourself with two very beautiful and fascinating creatures; the lionfish and the parrotfish. The problem is, not both of them are native to the reefs of the Dominican Republic. Thanks to the pet trade, lionfish have traveled all the way from the Pacific Ocean to many other places around the world where they are not indigenous, including the U.S.A. and the Caribbean waters.

Parrot Fish

            The problem with lionfish is that they have no natural predators in their natural habitat, making their population grow exponentially to the point that they are eating off many other native fish that have an important role in the reefs. This is where the parrotfish comes in. The parrotfish cleans off the algae attached to the corals while producing a large amount of sand from their waste. Although it may not seem like much, they are a big part of the reason that the corals can continue to survive and why the beaches are so beautiful.

            The issue is that because the lionfish are consuming the parrotfish while nothing is killing off the invasive species, eventually it will get to the point where the parrotfish will go extinct while the others continue to flourish and wreak havoc in their new habitat. They are not evil; they are simply trying to stay alive. And they are getting very good at that.

Lionfish

            The lionfish reaches its reproductive maturity by approximately one year of age. In one mating session, the male can fertilize from 4,000 to 30,000 female eggs, all of which develop and hatch in less than 18 hours. This makes it extremely easy for their population to grow the way it has been. The parrotfish, on the other hand, reach sexual maturity in their third year of life. They are also hybrid animals, making most of their eggs infertile; when the eggs do manage to hatch, it usually takes about 3 or 4 days. This means that lionfish have a very large advantage in both ways considering that they are born and spawn quicker and that they really aren’t prey for another other species… unless humans take the initiative to start fishing for them! 

Article By: Laura Losmozos