Once upon a time, we had a lionfish in our big fish tank. It was a beautiful fish named....well, I don't remember its name, but ask Coleen. The lionfish had bold dark red and white stripes and large fan-like fins. It's an extremely venomous fish native to the Pacific ocean region.
The lionfish didn't live at The Sandbar for very long. It was a voracious predator that ate too many of our other fish, so Dave finally found another home for him.
Recently, I found an article in Reader's Digest about lionfish and how they've somehow migrated to the Atlantic Ocean. Very few other fish prey on lionfish, so in addition to threatening the supply of native fish and coral, they've also rapidly multiplied.
The article had several theories about why lionfish have appeared in the Atlantic- one theory was that when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, it destroyed numerous indoor saltwater fish tanks and released lionfish who were washed into the ocean. Maybe, maybe not.
Lionfish aren't deadly to humans, but their sting is very painful. Probably also part of the reason our lionfish had to go- Dave didn't want to risk contact with it.
I didn't find the article online, but here's a link to a video about the invading lionfish.
We're very proud of our beautiful fish tank and its inhabitants. Which ones would you like to know more about? Leave us a comment and we'll tell more stories about the fish.
