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Lionfish finally reached Roatan

Here is an e-mail update on Lionfish in the Bay Islands. Photos by G & K Dole from Grand Bahama, February, 2009.

Having slowly spread throughout the greater Caribbean over the course of the years, the lionfish has now finally reached the Bay Islands.
On May 22nd, a local dive shop reported the capture of an 8inch (front of mouth to base of tail) specimen near Punta Gorda (in the NE part of Roatan). It was found?in?21ft of water, inside the barrier reef and about 200 m from shore.
The specimen in currently being kept in an aquarium and will be used for educational purposes. As yet, there have been no further sightings but we expect many more in the coming future.
With the lionfish here to stay, we will be assessing possibilities of dealing with this invasive species.

Promoting Research, Education & Conservation

Nic Bach
Director of Marine Infrastructure
Roatan Marine Park

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