research ecologist from the America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin- istration.


“Yep, there’s another one”: a marine biologist charts the growing population of lionfish off the island of Great Exuma


Back on Hixon’s boat, I am anxious, and just a bit edgy, to see what some have dubbed the “Frankenfish” in ac- tion. I jump into the ten-to-20-foot-deep waters and snorkel above Hixon as he scuba-dives, carrying two nets. Within min- utes, I’m hovering over an artificial reef that he and other re- searchers have built from cement blocks. It’s like a miniature block of flats perched on the sandy ocean


do hail originally from western Indo- nesia, where lionfish are collected for the aquarium trade. And because the females can produce more than two million eggs a year—and as the species doesn’t seem to have any local predators—they are reproducing on an unheard-of scale. Marine biologists have also discov-


ered the fertilised eggs can hitch a lift on the Gulf Stream. Lionfish have now been spotted as far north as Massachu- setts and as far south as Mexico and Panama. “No fish has ever colonised so quickly and over such a vast ocean range before,” says Paula Whitfield, a


READER’S DIGEST . rdmag.co.uk


floor, with scores of colourful residents, from multi-hued parrotfish to neon- blue damselfish, darting in and out. But no lionfish. Then, as Hixon shines his light into


a crevice, he gives me a thumbs-up and I snorkel closer. An 18-inch-long lion- fish, its majestic fins displayed like a peacock’s feathers, stares back at us. I have been told the fish is not thought to be aggressive, but as I dive down, I can’t get out of my mind the stories of hapless fishermen and divers who have been severely stung. Bruce Purdy, a Florida-based diving- tour organiser, told me that when he


COURTESY OF TIM PUSACK/OREGON STATE UNIVERS ITY


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