Featured Image Credit: Key West Aquarium
Uh oh… the beautiful but dangerous lionfish has now been discovered off the coast of Italy, according to a journal published in BioInvasions Records.
This is the first sighting of them in Italy, although they’ve been spotted in Sicily (late 2016) and have already practically taken over the waters of Cyprus nearby.
The Indo-Pacific species has slowly been spreading throughout the oceans for years, and once in an area, they reproduce easily (spawning almost 1,500,000 eggs a year,) eat anything including the native species of fish, and their stripes aren’t just for show— they’re a warning sign to most; fish and human alike.
They’re very, very venomous. From the tips of their spines to the bottom of their fins, they’re poisonous creatures. And due to this, they’re very hard to eat for anything that might want to do so!
This means they get almost free reign in reefs, hunting and preying on anything it can take down. And… with the rate that this species can populate an area, it means they could possibly decimate the mediterranean species native to Italian waters.
The lionfish isn’t always deadly to humans, but this doesn’t mean we should go searching for them while exploring underwater. Their poison’s symptoms include pain, nausea, vomiting and allergic reactions for anywhere from hours to days.
The good thing about lionfish is that they aren’t naturally out to be aggressive to humans. Their venomous spines are used for defense, not offense. Which means that so long as you pay attention to your surroundings and where you’re swimming, view them from afar, and keep your distance, there should be nothing to worry about if you’re planning a trip to Italy’s waters in the future.