16 Mississippi Sportsman^ | April 2015
UPDATE
Outdoor
continuesT
he latest state-record saltwater
fish is not good news for the
ecology of the waters off the Mis-
sissippi Gulf Coast.
In February, Jason Jones of Biloxi caught
a 1-pound, 11.2-ounce lionfish — the
first of the species ever submitted with a
record application to the Department of
Marine Resources, the state agency that
tracks saltwater records.
The lionfish is an evasive and non-native
species that first appeared in the Atlantic
waters off Florida in 1985. Biologists suspect the first lionfish were
released from an aquarium by private citizens.
A prolific spawner that will eat any fish that fit in its mouth, the
lionfish exploded down the Atlantic seaboard and then moved
into the Gulf of Mexico, where it was first documented off Flori-
da’s Gulf Coast in 2010. Since then, they have appeared off every
state in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and Mexico.
Competing with native species of all types, the lionfish can be
found in similar habitats to such managed species as the red
snapper, grouper and amberjack. They show up on artificial and
natural reefs, oil rigs and other cover in water ranging in depth
from a few feet to more than 1,000 feet.
With no natural predators, these fish concern biologists.
“Lionfish compete with everything,” said Alex Fogg, a biolo-
gist and graduate student who is studying the lionfish at the
University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Lab in
Ocean Springs. “They are not very selective on food; they will eat
anything. If it fits in their mouth, it’s game on. They eat fish. They
eat crabs. They eat it all, and they eat the same things that our
groupers and snappers eat, the small stuff that the fish we care
about eat. They are voracious; I once found 70 fish in the stom-
ach of one lionfish.“Right now, with the snapper populations in the shape they’re
in, and the pressure we have on grouper and other species —
the whole thing in the Gulf is a mess — and you throw these
lionfish in, and it creates a bigger mess.”
Lionfish are a pretty and colorful fish, but its long spines and fins
are venomous and can sting a human.
“It hurts, trust me,” Fogg said. “Their spines are venomous and,
in the Gulf, they have no natural predators, at least none that we
have identified.
“I’ve been stuck many times, and it ranges from a simple ‘ouch’
to some pretty excruciating pain. I don’t think there’s ever been
a documented case of death associated to lionfish venom, but if
you were allergic it could lead to some serious implications.
“I think it’s clear that a bigger predator eating one and getting
pricked would learn real quick that it isn’t something they want
to endure. Fish that feed on eggs of other fish won’t eat lionfish
eggs; they avoid them.”
Jones has filed paperwork for world-record recognition from
the International Game Fish Association. A fish rarely caught on
hook and line and more by spear fishing or gigging, the IGFA’s
current record is 1 pound, 10 ounces from the Atlantic side of
Florida. IGFA only recognizes hook and line catches. ■Latest
saltwater
record bad
news
The world-record lionfish caught
in February off the Mississippi
coast is a concern for scientists,
who say they are voracious feeders
with no known predators.