Squidy07
Aquarium Advice Activist
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2012
- Messages
- 179
what's going on in Florida reefs ? I hear lionfish are destroying the reefs but I dont understand why or how. can someone please explain.
Lions are invasive and thought to be introduced from a hurricane a while ago from hobbyists and the aquarium I believe.
It's thought it was a few and now it's a A LOT(don't know real estimation). They originated from the indo-pacific and have no predators and nothing has evolved defense mechanisms because they didn't evolve there with the natural life.
The lionfish in Florida is a great example of why animals should never be released into any habitat but their natural one. Sometimes this is accidental, but just as often it's intentional. Like the cane toad in Australia.
Anywho, as stated already, they're breeding like rabbits in the absence of natural predators, and consuming everything they can fit in their capacious maws. Reefs are just as dependent on fish as fish are on the reef. Remove all the native fish, and the reef will die.
Even large fish are at risk from the lions because the young are bite sized.