Beauty or Beast? The Lionfish Conundrum

The first time I saw a photograph of a lionfish (Pterois miles), it seemed unreal. It was like a painting —of an angel cloaked in delicate fabric, bathed in red and white, suspended in an ethereal blueness. It took my breath away. A few weeks later, I saw a lionfish underwater, and it caused a spike in my heart rate and a completely dry mouth. It was love at first sight. I had never seen a living being this extraordinarily beautiful before. Quite dramatically, this moment changed the course of my life, and I decided to pursue a career in marine ecology and education. I moved to the Andaman Islands and will forever have a lionfish tattooed on my leg.

For many years while guiding dives and taking tourists on underwater safaris, I had the pleasure of being around lionfish. I noticed that lionfish invoke vastly different thoughts and feelings in people. From awe and wonder to outright disgust, the range of emotions and opinions this one animal elicited left me intrigued.

After some reading, I began to understand the conundrum surrounding these animals: why some people find these animals beautiful, and others simply loathe them. While my feelings remained unchanged, I began to piece together the complex, layered and nuanced story of the lionfish.

They get their name from the elaborate mane-like arrangement of fins shadowing their flanks and the mohawk of venomous spines lining their backs. They possess an intensely intimidating look, to say the least, warning the underwater neighbourhood that a predator lurks in their midst. Lionfish are expert ambush predators with an extremely varied diet without a preference for a single habitat. They live in shallow and deep coral reefs, lagoons, rocky outcrops, and sandy beds, where they feed on a host of small fish (gobies, blennies, cardinalfish, wrasses etc.), crustaceans, and other invertebrates. As of the 21st century, lionfish are considered one of the most notoriously widespread and voracious “invasive species”.

Strategies of an ambush predator

Lionfish are related to several well-known venomous ambush predators, like scorpionfish and stonefish, that use extreme camouflage to hide from their prey. Lionfish, however, do not hide. Instead, they employ a range of strategies to hunt their prey. For small fish, one of two methods often works. The first involves chasing prey into a corner by flaring their flashy, pectoral fins. In the second strategy, they hover calmy in the water column, their irregular patterns and markings providing disruptive camouflage while their prey swims around unafraid. When the moment is right, the lionfish opens its mouth wide and creates a suction force strong enough to pull the prey directly into its mouth, often headfirst, and swallows it whole.

The horizon expands

There are 12 species of lionfish found across the Indo-Pacific oceans. This is their “native” distribution, i.e., where they originally evolved and have thrived as successful predators for millions of years. Around the mid-1980s, a few individuals of two species (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) found their way into the West Atlantic Ocean, to Florida, on the US east coast. One would imagine these foreign lionfish would not survive so far from their native habitats in waters colder than they are used to. However, not only did they survive, but they also reproduced and established themselves exceptionally well in these unchartered waters. Today, besides their native homes in the Indo-Pacific, these two lionfish species are found from North Carolina and Florida down to Texas, throughout the Caribbean and further down in Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil. 

Spreading their fins

Numerous studies that have tried to understand how lionfish “jumped” from one ocean basin to another have concluded that they first arrived as exotic pets from the Indo-Pacific. Numerous instances of accidental and intentional release over the years ultimately created a successful, steadily increasing population in non-native waters where they have adapted well to environmental conditions. Their generalised diet allows them to feed on most of the native marine life, with no naturally occurring predators to keep the lionfish populations in check. Since this expansion further along the Atlantic is taking place at the cost of local marine fauna, lionfish are considered an “invasive species”.

More recently, due to rising water temperatures on the opposite side of the Atlantic, lionfish have also begun to establish a breeding population in the Mediterranean and are moving westwards. Scientists believe they are swimming up the Suez Canal. 

Stars are aligned

Besides their adaptability to new prey and the absence of predators, lionfish also have another factor on their side — effective breeding biology. Lionfish reproduce by spawning, i.e., releasing eggs and sperm into the water for external fertilisation. Although they have two distinct breeding seasons (March/April and August), they are capable of spawning throughout the year at about two-day intervals. A single female, depending on size, can release between 1,800-41,945 eggs during a single spawning event! Reproductive adults prefer breeding when in relatively warm waters. As warm water periods increase each year because of climate change, lionfish not only expand their physical range across the warming Atlantic Ocean but also reproduce more frequently.

Once I began understanding the ecology of the lionfish invasion crisis, I became curious about measures being implemented to control their spread. Scientists are researching the factors that control lionfish populations in their native ranges. They say hunting and culling appear to be the most effective strategy so far — capturing lionfish using spears, traps, and other methods in large enough numbers, regularly, to reduce their densities. It is an exhausting exercise — both financially and effort-wise — but it is the only way forward without having to introduce yet another exotic predator species to control this one. To make hunting a viable and sustainable population control measure over the long term, countries are trying to create a market around lionfish commodities: lionfish derbies, hunting tournaments, lionfish cuisine, lionfish jewellery, leather, and ornaments. 

While scientists and conservationists continue to search for the most effective and efficient methods of curbing the impact of invasive lionfish, the population and distribution of these animals grows. How large do the culling drives need to be? How will this affect our overall perception of these species? Are we demonising them for events that were originally orchestrated by human agency? What is being done to control repeated introductions? Should we also focus on guidelines that allow trading exotic pets?

I end with more questions than I began, optimistically hoping we find a sustainable path towards restoring an ecological balance in these waters. Until then, I look forward to meeting a lionfish once again at a location where I am not conflicted about being in love with this beauty.