INVASIVE SPECIES PROJECT PHOTOS

JAN 2011

Morgan Edwards netting lionfish		Rob Hedges capturing lionfish
Preparing to dissect a dead lionfish		Dissected lionfish
Morgan Edwards at work		Little otoliths
Photographs by Project Team members

 
NOTES
Growth rates for lionfish need to be determined for the areas they have invaded. All fish have a pair of bones inside their heads called sagittal otoliths. As the fish moves, gravity causes the otoliths to shift and stimulate nerves. These signals allow the fish to maintain its position in the water column. Each year a new ring composed of calcium carbonate is added to the otoliths. By removing these bones and sectioning them, one can determine how old the fish is by counting the rings. This information is plotted on a graph along with the fish’s length. Connecting the dots gives you a growth curve. The hope is that this information will increase the accuracy of our models and therefore help us to make better management decisions.

APR 2009

Photograph by Valentino Lee

Photograph by Valentino Lee

NOTES
The photographs of the lionfish above were taken at a US-based public aquarium. While they are the same species as those now seen in the Cayman Islands, they were not actually captured in the Cayman Islands, and are presented for illustration purposes only.