[Coral-List] Largest Lionfish ever?

[Ian Zink]

I stand corrected:
"Lionfishes were not found in the Florida Keys until relatively recently 
(January 2009); much later than they were found in significant numbers 
along the Atlantic coast of Florida north of Miami."
http://www.aquaticinvasions.net/2010/Supplement/AI_2010_5_S1_Schofield.pdf


Flori

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On 5/22/2015 12:06 PM, William Precht wrote:
> First known Lionfish sighted in the FKNMS was 2009 I believe. So if the Lionfish was caught off Islamorada it shouldn't be that old - certainly not 30 yrs old.
> Would be interested to get an otolith for establishing the age of these larger fish from the Keys
> Bill
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On May 22, 2015, at 11:04 AM, Ian Zink <izink at rsmas.miami.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Lionfish were reported to first appear (in the scientific literature) in
>> Atlantic in 1985 off Dania, Florida:
>> http://safmc.net/Portals/6/Meetings/Council/BriefingBook/Dec%2009/SSC/sscA33Alionfishdocs.pdf
>>
>> Maximum age could be up to 30 years:
>> http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/flsgp/flsgpw10002/data/papers/059.pdf
>>
>> Given those two pieces of evidence, and the complications related to
>> 'natural predation' of lionfish in the Atlantic (i.e., how likely could
>> a lionfish survive to maximum age/length?), I'd suggest that some big
>> fat individuals could be growing, and surviving, in Florida waters
>> simply because they've been here the longest.  I'd have to do more
>> research on the length/age to know approximately how old this large
>> individual was, but in the end, it could be just that lionfish have been
>> in Florida longer, and thus have more of chance to get that big,
>> relative to other locations where their introduction is more recent.
>> Someone else would have to chime in who knows more on the ecology of
>> lionfish to give a better answer as to whether or not Florida is better
>> habitat than other locations.
>>
>> on an interesting note - the first introduction into Atlantic was 30
>> years ago - which coincides with the approximate age reported.
>> cheers,
>> Ian
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>> On 5/21/2015 2:53 PM, Lane W wrote:
>>> I'm wondering if lionfish are proliferating even more so in the Florida
>>> waters then in other places. Based on the size it would seem they are.
>>> Do any of the Coral Listers know of a size chart for lionfish?
>>> Any recent counts?
>>>
>>> http://www.flmrg.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=446
>>>
>>> Capt. Jimmy Nelson got quite the surprise when targeting lionfish while
>>> shooting a segment off Islamorada for his show Extreme Fishing Adventures:
>>> a HUGE lionfish! The large lion measured in at 18.75 inches or 477 mm,
>>> which according to the Reef Environmental Education Foundation is the
>>> largest lionfish they have officially measured.
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