lionfish caught in ny

[Guest bill33]

hey i was in Ny this weekend and i was talking to someone on the peir and he was telling me someone caught a volitan lion in Freeport, during the summer months. he caught it on a moss bunker going for bluefish. they netted it and brought it up and they didnt know what it was and they called some wildlife coast guy and he told then it was a volitan!  

 

kinda wierd for them going all the way up the coast to a coldwater ocean during the winter fall months.

 

Bill    [nana]

[michaelg]

From my understanding, they sometimes follow the jetstream up, which can be quite warm.  I have heard of several reports of them being seen in the carolina's, and have heard of them making it to lower New England.  Are they even indigenous to the atlantic?

[Guest goblinshark]

Im really into invasive species, and the Volitan Lionfish is one of the worst.  They are normally native to pacific reef waters. We think it was introduced from the hobby or through ship bilges, but its established itself in the atlantic.  Recently during a seine survey in Long Island, 2 juvaniles were caught :rock:  scary...huh?

[cabrerad]

Here's a link on the Lionfish as an invasive species in the Atlantic.  I  think the fish keeping  route to introduction much more likely than through bilge water personally.  There are several other tropical Pacific fish species that have been spotted in Atlantic waters.  Here are two quick links on the subject.

 

http://www.invasivespecies.gov/

 

http://www.nccos.noaa.gov/stressors/invasives/science.html

 

David C.

[xeon]

Eric Borneman touched on this during his speech at the last meeting.  He stated several species of marine fish have established breeding populations on their otherwise un-native East Coast.  The Volitan lion fish is one species he mentioned.  I have also seen several articles on them, one in particular about them off the coast of NC.  IMO, these non-native fish are mostly if not all... hobbyist releases.      

 

I read another article that stated several non-native species have been found in Florida/The Caribbean area.  They also stated that these were fish generally bought for tanks, like tangs and angels.  On particular fish they noted were batfish which were aesthetically pleasing when small, but large and as ugly as sin when an adult.  This was just a theory thrown in of course.  The problem with these fish is that no one can tell how they will affect the environment.  The lionfish has been tagged invasive... so I guess they have already figured that one out.