It is a real invasion: Indian lionfish come from the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea – and displace local biodiversity there. Researchers have a rather unusual recommendation to get the problem under control.
The predatory fish are not picky and also feast on rare species that only occur in the Mediterranean Sea and deserve strict protection, explains Austrian zoologist Alexander Kotrschal, who now warns about the spread of the invaders in the professional journal ‘NeoBiota’.
Climate change is causing further spread
The invasion of the lionfish (Pterois mile) into the Mediterranean Sea started about a decade ago, says Kotrschal, a researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. The fish come from the warm Indo-Pacific Ocean and, according to genetic studies, entered the Mediterranean Sea via the Red Sea and most likely the Suez Canal.
They are now a permanent presence in the eastern part, spreading into wetlands where it was thought to be actually too cold for them. Due to the increase in temperatures due to climate change, they can now clearly cope with the once cooler Mediterranean climate.
The lionfish is not easy to catch, but is said to taste delicious:
Constant supply from the Indian Ocean
In addition, lionfish larvae can now swim through the Suez Canal and not, as in the past, only travel in the “ballast water” of ships. The “soda lakes” through which the river leads were unswamable by marine animals, and freshwater washed by the Nile’s annual floods hindered the advance of marine animals, the researcher explained.
“The diversion of almost all fresh water for irrigation has eliminated freshwater flushing, and the widening and deepening of the Suez Canal has salinized the soda lakes with water from the Red Sea.”
Mediterranean fish an easy victim
This largest sea, almost entirely enclosed by land, is home to unique biodiversity. More than 11,000 animal species live in the Mediterranean, some of which are found nowhere else in the world, Kotrschal reports. Many of the fish native there are not accustomed to lionfish and do not flee from them.
This makes them easy prey for predators without specific dietary preferences. “It is always impressive to see how such an extravagant and, for us, extremely striking predator can approach its prey unnoticed,” said the researcher.
Clear recommendation: “Tastes excellent”
The best way to stop the invasion of lionfish in the Mediterranean would probably be to remove the invaders, says Kotrschal: “To do that, you would have to market them as food fish,” says Kotrschal: “Lionfish are very easy to hunt and taste. delightful.”
Source: Krone
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