[Coral-List] lionfish sightings on GOM reefs

[Kevin Buch]

September 12, 2010: Graduate student and scientific diver Lynne Wetmore of Texas A&M University at Galveston observed two individual Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois spp.) at Sonnier Bank, a collection of mid-shelf clay- and siltstone outcroppings located approximately 85 miles off the coast of Vermilion Parrish, Louisiana. The fish were observed during visual fish surveys on SCUBA as part a long-term study conducted by the Fisheries Ecology and Ecosystem Research Lab at Texas A&M University at Galveston and funded by the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council. For the full report on the sightings, including photos, please visit the Fisheries Ecology and Ecosystem Research Lab website at: www.tamug.edu/rooker<http://www.tamug.edu/rooker>..
These sightings have been reported and entered into the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) database, and to the best of our knowledge, represent the first confirmed sightings of lionfish at natural banks in the northern Gulf of Mexico as well as the westernmost lionfish observations in the region to date.

Kevin L. Buch
Texas A&M University at Galveston
Diving Safety Officer
P.O. Box 1675 Galveston, TX 77553
409-741-4056 (office)
409-741-4074 (fax)
409-789-1933 (cell)
buchk at tamug.edu
www.tamug.edu/diving