[Coral-List] Lionfish Wranglers on Bonaire

[T Shearer]

This info, thought only reef related, may be of interest to some.  Copied from email:



CIEE
 would like to thank all the lionfish wranglers that brought fish to us 
to be processed last Saturday.  We also want to thank STINAPA for 
including us on the organized lionfish hunts.  On Saturday CIEE 
processed a total of 214 lionfish that were donated to us for research 
purposes.  Stomachs were removed and the fish were returned to any of 
the hunters that wanted their fish back for dinner J or whatever other destiny they might have had.  

The
 following are some statistics of interest for the fish brought in while
 CIEE was collecting them this past Saturday (more were brought in after
 we left in the late afternoon):
Largest by weight - Berit Pement - 600g
Largest by Total
 Length (TL) - Chris and Cymbert - 34.5cm
Largest by Standard Length (SL) – not including the tail fin - Ron - 26.5cm
 
Top 5 dive teams with the highest number of lionfish removed from the reef:
Cody and Michelle                31
Nick and Leanne                    25
Chris and Cymbert                16
Hans and Jannie                     16
Walton and Lynn                   16
 
Top 5 dive teams with the greatest weight of lionfish removed from the reef:
Cody and
 Michelle                5.97kg
Nick and Leanne                    4.53kg
Michael and Berit Pement    2.60 kg (12 fish)
Chris and Cymbert                2.23kg
Hans and Jannie                     2.01kg
 
The
 single largest lionfish was that brought in over the past 2 years was 
donated by Joi Jenkins (weight 1050g & total length 43.8cm)
The smallest fish was brought in by Ramon de Leon (weight 0.12g & total length 2.1cm
 
Since
 October 2009, a total of 2750 lionfish have been donated to CIEE.  Of 
those, the stomachs of > 2,200 fish have been
 dissected and the contents analyzed.  Ms. Fadilah Ali, a PhD student at
 Southampton University in the UK, will be presenting the results of 
this research project on lionfish feeding ecology in Bonaire at the Gulf
 and Caribbean Fisheries Institute conference in Mexico in November.   
We will be writing a scientific paper on the topic and will share it 
with you soon.  Jerry Ligon has donated time and expertise in order to 
identify the fish – and other items – found in the stomachs - to species
 - when possible.  Thanks for your help, Jerry!     
 
The following is a list of the number of fish from different families that were found in lionfish stomachs:
Family – Scientific Common
 name# of fish
PomacentridaeDamselfish91
ApogonidaeCardinalfish77
GrammatidaeBasslets76
LabridaeWrasses56
SerranidaeSeabasses47
GobiidaeGobies68
BlennidaeBlennies41
LutjanidaeSnappers53
ScaridaeParrotfish14
HolocentridaeSquirrelfish3
HaemulidaeGrunts11
  
Thanks
 again for all your donations!  We will use all fish brought in to the 
lab for research.  We are especially interested in larger fish and will 
do everything we can to get them back to you if you want them to eat.  

Cheers,
Rita 
 
 
 
CIEE Research Station
 Bonaire
CIEE:  Council on International Educational Exchange
Kaya Gobernador Debrot 26
Kralendijk, Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean
Tel:  +599 717 4140

Email:  info at cieebonaire.org 
W: www.cieebonaire.org