In 1992 Hurricane Andrew , among other damages in Florida, broke an aquarium in which were six fish brought from the Indian Ocean, which stood out for their exotic figure and their dangerous attributes, and which entered the waters of the Caribbean Sea by the bay of Biscayne.
There were six specimens of Pterois sp. , popularly known as lionfish , which in less than twenty years occupied all the reefs of the Caribbean Sea and that these days must already be on the north coast of Brazil.
A poisonous fish
This fish is a frequent inhabitant of reefs and lagoons (the lagoons of the atolls) of the islands of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific, it is a solitary predator that feeds mainly on shrimps and crabs. Its exotic appearance is given by a series of thorns with poisonous tips that surround and protect its body, with a poison on which there are several versions.
Some divers point out that in addition to the intense pain, the venom of the lionfish can cause fever, respiratory arrest and even death. Other fishermen, Caribbean, say that only produces a strong pain, and nothing else if you are not allergic .
Your behavior in the Caribbean
That the poison has changed in the case of the new inhabitants of the Caribbean reefs is not surprising, because it was not the only thing that changed in this fish. In the Caribbean it has reached twice its original size and they are no longer solitary, they have been observed moving in small schools.
Why are they considered a plague? In the first place, they do not have a predator in the Caribbean that controls their population, and a female can put up to thirty thousand eggs!
In their new home they changed their diet and began to eat the small fish that live among the corals , and are insatiable devourers.
Apart from endangering other fish species, they have become a threat to the reef itself, because by eating the species that feed on algae they thrive and displace or kill the corals.
A possible solution to ask for mouth
Faced with their unstoppable progress, several fishermen, tourism operators and biologists have proposed an appetizing solution: eat the lionfish . It is a poisonous fish, but not toxic, and those who have tasted its meat claim that once you get rid of the thorns it is one of the most delicious white meats they have tasted.
In Colombia gastronomic festivals have been implemented , and several hotels and restaurants in the region have included it in their menus.
This solution, that the man becomes the natural predator of the lionfish, has been implemented in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and some Caribbean islands, but other options are needed to stop the safe advance of this fish that is conquering all the waters tropical of the world.