Georgia Aquarium to display invasive lionfish

You might call them the kudzu of the sea.

The Georgia Aquarium plans to open in April a 1,000-gallon exhibit on lionfish, colorful tropical fish with showy fins and venomous spines that are invading the state’s coast like an out-of-control weed.

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RICH ADDICKS / raddicks@ajc.com

The Georgia Aquarium’s next new exhibit will feature lionfish, which are native to the South Pacific but are quickly multiplying along Georgia’s coast.

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Because lionfish, which are native to the South Pacific, have no natural predators in Georgia waters, their population is exploding, researchers said. And their presence is having a negative impact on native species, including small grouper, crustaceans and anything else lionfish can swallow whole.

“It’s a beautiful fish, but in this case it’s in the wrong place,” said Bruce Carlson, chief science officer for the aquarium. “It’s in Georgia and it doesn’t belong here.”

The aquarium will put more than 40 lionfish in the tank in an attempt to educate visitors about invasive species and discourage the practice of dumping unwanted fish in oceans and streams. The fish will be about 5 inches to 9 inches long.

Several fish are being held in quarantine until construction of the exhibit is complete.

“It’s so irresponsible,” Carlson said of ditching unwanted pets in areas in which they are not native, including snakes, lizards and other animals. “Once these things are loose in the environment, you can’t bring them back again. And they just wreak havoc.”

Researchers believe the lionfish were in aquariums before being released into Florida waters. They were first seen in the late 1990s, but some speculate they could have been introduced through damage from Hurricane Andrew years earlier, Carlson said.

While the researchers do not have an estimate on the size of the lionfish population, it’s believed their numbers have swelled since the 1990s because of how far they have spread, said George Sedberry, a superintendent for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

Today they can be found as far north as New York and as far south as the Bahamas and Belize in Central America. In Georgia, they are generally found about 35 miles off the coast in the deeper, warmer 70-degree waters.

“They’re able to reproduce quickly and they are growing pretty big,” Sedberry said.

And they are fearless. Because of the venom in their spine — which has a non-lethal but incredibly painful sting — lionfish can invade with impunity.

Catching them has not been difficult for NOAA and the aquarium, which are working together on learning more about the population. Carlson said the fish, confident in their ability to protect themselves, don’t swim very fast. To get them out of hand nets, researchers use specialized gloves that protect them from the sting.

There is an upside, Carlson and Sedberry said. Lionfish are tasty.

“Some of the larger species are a delicacy,” Carlson said. While they are painful if touched improperly, they are not poisonous.

The challenge, Sedberry said, is to find an easy way to fish them and to get their small sizes up, so that a culinary industry can be created around them.