"Invisible" Red Lion Fish invade the Caribbean

"Invisible" Red Lion Fish invade the Caribbean

David Chen
October 20, 2013

James Cook University
Published Oct 18, 2013
http://phys.org/news/2013-10-ghost-fish-caribbean.html

Summary:
     Studies by James Cook University scientists Oona Lonnstedt and Professor Mark show the reason for the lionfishes' extreme success in the Caribbean, where it is thriving as an invasive species. Lionfish are native to the Pacific Ocean, but they were accidentally introduced to the Caribbean Basin ecosystem around 30 years ago. The studies show that they are so good at catching prey because, they are almost invisible to the small fish. The Red Lion Fishes' camouflage is so good, that they are virtually undetectable. Studies included two other native predatory fish, and the same small prey fish were forced into interaction with them. The prey fish could not adapt to the lionfish as a threat, and the lionfish could swim up and capture almost every single one of them. This was a big contrast from the other two predatory fish, where they had much lower feeding success. The ability to trick the learning mechanism of prey with their camouflage makes the lionfish very successful, and almost unstoppable.

Connection:
     This article connects to our past unit on ecology. Although the article doesn't go into depth about how the lionfish actually affects the Caribbean Reef Basin i.e. "eating its way through the reef ecosystem" and "viewed as a huge nuisance.", it does explain why the lionfish is so overwhelmingly successful. It connects with our learning of invasive species and how they can change a native ecosystem, often drastically. This article shows exactly how an invasive species is able to thrive so well in a new environment. In this case, the lionfishes' camouflage tricks the native prey fish learning mechanism, and the lionfish is able to thrive and hunt freely.