The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) and devil firefish (Pterois miles) are no longer just the beautiful exotic fish you've often seen in aquariums and the entrances of big chinese restaurants. Lionfish are endemic to the Indo-Pacific, but have now established along the eastern coast of the U.S. as far north as Rhode island, the Caribbean, and in parts of the Gulf of Mexico.
We cannot say with 100% certainty how these fish got to the Atlantic? The exact cause is unknown, but like most invasive species it was anthropogenic. Experts believe we have been releasing unwanted lionfish from home aquariums into the Atlantic Ocean for upwards of 25 years. Why are they problematic? Since lionfish are not native to the Atlantic, they have few predators. Thus, they free to feed voraciously upon crustaceans and fish. Warm waters and currents consistently promote their reproduction and transport.
What can be done? Catch them an eat them? But how to catch them effectively? The Guardian LF1, conceived by the foundation for Robots in Service of the Environment (https://robotsise.com/lionfish-project/) is a lion fish zapping submersible robot vacuum.
Piloted remotely from a laptop with a Playstation controller, the current design of the LF1 can catch up to 10 lion fish at one time. The robot maneuvers its metal electrodes, which zaps and incapacitates/stuns the lionfish. Next, it features a central tube, the vacuum chamber, that also doubles as the device’s chassis. Small propellers and a motor hang off the sides of the chamber, which provides the thrust and maneuverability. To suck up the lionfish, a single high-powered thruster sits inside the tube’s back end.
Human ingenuity will continue to push how we can deal with invasive species management. Since we generally speaking do the damage, it is on us to try to remedy the problems we create. Using robots to catch invasive lionfish and then serve them in restraints... it is a good start.
For more information and videos please see...
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/lionfish-zapper-hits-open-seas/
https://robotsise.com/lionfish-project/
For lionfish recipes please see
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lionfish-recipes/
