# A new one for me in the Everglades.



## pursuit25

Thats not good, a lot of juvinile fish for them to eat.


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## deerfly

would be a first for me, but given the tidal flow back and forth under the overseas hwy every day, there's probably quite a few scattered amongst the hard and soft corals on the bay side of the bridges. 

Don't know much about their biology and habitat requirements either, but it is very intriguing to see a tropical reef dweller in an estuarine location like N. Fl bay.  :-? 

If they're that diverse and adaptable they may cause a lot more trouble than most realize...


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## anytide

> would be a first for me, but given the tidal flow back and forth under the overseas hwy every day, there's probably quite a few scattered amongst the hard and soft corals on the bay side of the bridges.
> 
> Don't know much about their biology and habitat requirements either, but it is very intriguing to see a tropical reef dweller in an estuarine location like N. Fl bay.  :-?
> 
> If they're that diverse and adaptable they may cause a lot more trouble than most realize...


true... but all the tourerists will pick em clean for fun.


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## Jacob_Johnson

Lion fish are an invasive species, from what I have heard they eat anything and they can get their mouth around, can ruin the baby snook population if there is an abundance of them..


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## anytide

theyll be in every aquarium in the south. gimme two.


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## Parrboy

I'm in swfl. They are showing up here too. We are told to kill them on sight


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## Dillusion

Should have speared it with your push pole.


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## swampfox

Yeah kill everyone of those bastards you can. I think there is a bounty on em in some places. Dont know of FL has a bounty. But I do know they want you to kill em. I think I remember seeing tournaments for divers in the Keys. Where you get $20 a head for em. Dont pick em up! Those spines are very poisonous. Noy good seeing em over there. You may want to tell FWC about it. Maybe they could post some signs telling everyone to kill em.


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## reelaggressive

I have seen a couple up here in Tampa bay at night when gigging for sheeps. We stab them faster than anything else.


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## kamakuras

> Should have speared it with your push pole.


I tried! I whacked him real good after the pics. If I had a landing net I would have just scooped him up for dinner. He had no fear.


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## paint it black

whattttttttttt?????????? That is crazy! 


What's also crazy is how dirty the water looks in Rankin..... it's normally crystal clear.... lol Normally the cleanest water of all the bights...


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## kamakuras

We were right up on an island where the bottom was muddier, not to mention it was howling yesterday. So, it wasn't as clear as the rest of the area. But, the water was still very clear. We were surprised how murky it looked in the pics when we got home too.


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## telltail

That's the second time I've heard about a sighting around Flamingo this year. A buddy spotted one all the way up in Snake Bight--he said it was not exactly thriving, seemed pretty beat up. Not good, though....


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## captd

wow, that is not good... they are all over the reefs outside... they are really prolific... and totally invasive.


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## bw510

My cousin swears he saw one in our snook light here in sarasota


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## cutrunner

Choot it clint!!!!


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## Guest

I have been seeing them since 2000 while Diving Wrecks off of N.C.

Since they arrived via currents from the Indian Ocean I would bet that Nature will create a balance. This is a natural occurring freek event and not the cause of thousands of Aquarium Owners just them into the Ocean has many believe. : 

Almost every single invasive that has invaded Florida (which is in the hundreds) nature worked it self out and they never did inflect the damage that people were predicting.

The Pythons in the Everglades have killed up to 90% of the small mammals, but with nothing left to eat I believe they will not survive and then the Small Mammal population will increase over time.

Hopefully the LionFish develops some disease or the predators start to eat them, but like every over invasive species I don't expect them to eat every small fish in the Sea.


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## kamakuras

I do not totally agree that they all work themselves out. The Maya Cichlid is a good example. I did however see a video of Mutton Snapper eating Lion Fish. So maybe there is hope there.


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## cutrunner

Ive onky seen 2 around here. I think its because the goliath grouper population here is so big.
I can imagine they slurp them lionfish like chocolate coated candies


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