[Coral-List] Lionfish invasion
Douglas Fenner
douglasfenner at yahoo.com
Wed Jan 26 15:18:02 EST 2011
This is long, so don't read it if you're not interested in the problem of
introduced species.
Rudy is certainly right that the lionfish were introduced. But since their
introduction in Florida, they have invaded the US east coast at least up to
North Carolina, and invaded much if not all of the Caribbean. So the species is
not only introduced, but invasive as well. There are introduced species that
don't invade, many harbors around the world have a variety of species that have
been introduced accidentally on ships, but they are species that do well in
harbors (which helps the ships pick them up), but don't do as well outside of
harbors so don't invade widely. The Caribbean and Florida already have an
introduced coral, Tubastraea coccinea, which subsequently invaded the rest of
the Caribbean and Florida. So far there aren't reports that I know of
documenting it doing damage there, but it is also been introduced into Brazil,
where it is displacing native species. Another species of Tubastraea from the
Pacific has now been found on oil rigs in the Gulf. Scientists have been part
of the problem, deliberately introducing some things like a few mushroom corals
to Jamaica (luckily those haven't been a problem yet). Hawaii has hundreds of
introduced marine species, and a soft coral (Carijoa reesii) has spread,
covering and killing black corals. An introduced red sponge is also spreading
in Hawaii.
For perspective, it is my impression that in terrestrial habitats, humans
have introduced many species, and some have done a great deal of damage. I
don't think that nature has a good record of adapting. Australia could be a
poster child for the problems of introduced species. Plagues of rabbits and
prickly pear cactus are well known examples, but far from the only ones.
Introduced cats spread to cover the continent in about 100 years. Introduced
foxes and cats have exterminated many native species, and Australia has had more
native mammals go extinct than anywhere else on earth, I've read. Introduced
foxes and cats surely did much of that damage. Some Australian mammals only
survive in Tasmania, where until recently there were no foxes, now Foxes have
been introduced to Tasmania. In North America, several insects have been
introduced that spread fungus that kill trees, which have done lots of damage.
An introduced oppossum from Australia has done major widespread damage in New
Zealand. The brown snake introduced into Guam has eaten the eggs and chicks of
almost every bird there, nearly extinguishing the native Rail, and made mornings
silent when they used to be full of bird song. The list goes on and on. Some
introduced species populations explode because the predators and disease that
held them in check where they came from, didn't come with them. Some control
programs have tried bringing in diseases or parasites to control them, but they
must be very very specific to only the target introduced species. Some such
introductions have worked. Some introductions have been well-meaning but
disasterous, like mongeese to control introduced rats, cane toads to control
cane beetles, and predatory snails to control introduced snails. In each of
these cases, the species introduced to control another didn't eat what they were
supposed to control, but themselves spread out of control, often eating
endangered native species and causing far more problems. Species should never
be introduced to control others without extensive testing and proof that they
won't harm other native species.
Introduced and particularly invasive species are one of the greatest
problems in ecosystems today, along with things like habitat destruction, etc.
Coral reefs have gotten off relatively light up to now, but now that's over.
Will some aquarist release their Indo-Pacific coral into Florida waters,
complete with a disease or parasite that then spreads and does serious damage?
Was the disease that killed the Diadema urchins all over the western Atlantic
introduced? Will lionfish start exterminating species of small rare fish on
reefs like foxes and cats did with mammals in Australia??
Invasive introduced species are anything but innocuous. Very few have
been controlled, and only one or two have ever been eliminated I believe (I
believe prickly pear cactus was eliminated from Australia by the introduction of
a moth that eats the flowers).
This is a very serious problem with few answers once the species have been
introduced. The key is to stop them from being introduced, which is why Customs
in almost every country inspects everything they can, and bringing almost
anything alive into a country is illegal without a permit. It is very very
important work. Introduced agricultural pests (like the Medfly in California)
can do billions of dollars of damage very quickly. Ships are difficult to
inspect sufficiently to catch introductions, many can occur by the ballast water
inside them, but also in several other places on the ship. Aquarium species
like lionfish are generally allowed into countries without restriction (other
than a CITES permit needed for corals), because they haven't been problem
invasive species until now.
Doug
Douglas Fenner, Ph.D.
Coral Reef Monitoring Ecologist
Dept Marine & Wildlife Resources
American Samoa
Figures on Global Climate Show 2010 Tied 2005 as the Hottest Year on Record
"New government figures for the global climate show that 2010 was the wettest
year in the historical record, and it tied 2005 as the hottest year since
record-keeping began in 1880. It was the 34th year running that global
temperatures have been above the 20th-century average; the last below-average
year was 1976. The new figures show that 9 of the 10 warmest years on record
have occurred since the beginning of 2001."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/science/earth/13climate.html?src=me&ref=world
________________________________
From: Rudy Bonn <rudy_bonn at yahoo.com>
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Sent: Tue, January 25, 2011 8:55:00 AM
Subject: [Coral-List] Lionfish invasion
A lot of issues seem to be involved with this so-called, "invasion" which is a
term that I find disconcerting. The lionfish did not invade our waters, they
were introduced by humans who apparently lacked the common sense to realize what
the possible consequences could be. I know also that some folks claim that the
initial release was brought about as the result of Hurricane Andrew destroying a
private aquarium containing lionfish-- anectodal information too, I might add.
The fact is, as many of you have pointed out, is that the lionfish are here to
stay, and we can only hope that nature will adapt, she has a pretty damn good
record of doing so! This also underscores the need for education and outreach
programs aimed at people who buy exotic pets; something that requires more
regulation, but I doubt that this would do much good as long as their is money
to made by someone! It is a sad fact Jim, and I agree with you 100 percent,
perhaps some day we
will recognize the consequences of our actions, until that occurs, we will
continue to experience these types of behaviors from humans, and we will
continue to upset nature's balance that was in pretty good shape until we came
along!
Rudy S Bonn
Director of Marine Projects
Reef Relief
631 Greene Street
Key West, FL 33040
305-294-3100
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