More research into moray eels and other potential lionfish predators might help better focus lionfish removal efforts, Muñoz said, and help to determine whether public money and effort might be better spent elsewhere. While biologists say removal efforts can make a difference at the local level, the larger lionfish invasion marches on undaunted. Commissioners also voted to exclude lionfish from the commercial and recreational bag limits. State wildlife officials decided to waive the recreational license requirement for divers harvesting lionfish using certain gear. In June 2013, Florida made it easier for divers to rid state waters of lionfish and kill as many lionfish as they can. And biologists often find hammerhead sharks with mouths full of stingray spines, highlighting that Florida's native predators are no slouches when it comes to eating venomous prey. Some fish may be acquiring a taste for lionfish. But biologists don't know to what degree those and other predators will hunt and eat lionfish on their own, or whether that can temper the fish's Florida invasion. "The eel is not the panacea here," Muñoz warned.Ĭountless YouTube videos show spear fishermen feeding their speared lionfish to somewhat-hesitant barracudas, sharks and eels. Their potentially large size and high density in certain parts of the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean could make them worthy lionfish competitors, the NOAA researchers said. While lionfish appear to be dominating many Florida reefs already, the moray eel is not about to give up its reign over the reefs without a fight. The Nova Southeastern study concluded that the west Florida shelf and nearshore waters of Texas, and Guyana, South America, should be a high-priority areas targeted for lionfish control. "In other words, it’s likely that they are negatively impacting populations of the fish we like to eat, and at an alarming rate," said Johnston, who recently published a study about the scope of the lionfish invasion in the journal Coral Reefs. They eat the same grouper and snapper we do. Watch Video: Video: Florida bans captive lionfish breeding. "They also have the jaws to grasp and manipulate." "They knot themselves to sort of compress the prey," said Roldan Muñoz, a research fishery biologist for NOAA, who wrote the recent paper about their eel encounter. Because the eel can flip the lionfish around and wolf them down head-first, the fish's dangerous spines collapse harmlessly and the fish slips right down the hatch. The eels munch down lionfish in a snakelike manner, coiling around the fish, and positioning them with their powerful jaw. The discovery begins to cast a hint of doubt on the longstanding belief that lionfish lack any significant natural predators in Florida, the researchers said. They recently published their enlightening eel experience in the Bulletin of Marine Science. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers had set the trap as part of routine sampling of reef fish and other marine species. But biologists wonder whether eels choose to hunt lionfish, absent the human handouts.Ī recent federal finding far offshore of Florida answers that question, proving the eels can catch and eat lionfish all on their own. In early September, researchers trapped a spotted a moray eel about 80 miles offshore near the Florida-Georgia border, not a spot where spear fishermen would be feeding lionfish to eels. When they got it up on the boat's deck, the eel hacked up a lionfish. Online videos show even sharks initially balk at eating lionfish, but the moray eel doesn't hesitate to snatch the fish from spear fishermen who dangle the fierce fish in front of them. Grouper and other fish tend to spit them out or avoid them altogether because of their sharp, venomous spines. Lionfish, native to the Pacific and Indian oceans, were thought to have no significant natural predators in Florida waters. So when it's "go time" between lionfish and eel, it isn't even close. But the spotted moray eel has a saving grace: It can wolf down the invasive lionfish - no problem. This ghoulish guy is tough-as-nails, no-nonsense, the rogue of the reef, just nasty. Then, better get ready to meet your maker.
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