By Dennis Pillion From AL

Efforts to control the invasive and highly-destructive lionfish in Florida and Gulf of Mexico may be getting a boost… from other lionfish.

According to a report in National Geographic, several lionfish caught recently in the Florida Keys have had other lionfish in their stomachs, potentially making the lionfish one of the only things in the Gulf that will eat lionfish.

The lionfish is a popular aquarium species thanks to its vibrant colorations, but also has a voracious appetite and no known natural predators in the Gulf of Mexico, thanks partly to its venomous spines.

It is native to the Pacific and was first discovered on the Atlantic coast of Florida in the 1980s. It is believed the first lionfish introduced into the Caribbean were released from home aquariums, and now lionfish have been found around the entirety of Florida, into Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and up the East Coast.

It feeds on popular reef fishes like snapper and gobies. According to the National Geographic story, a lionfish can eat dozens of smaller fish in a single feeding and lay up to 30,000 eggs every four days.

Research has shown that lionfish are growing much larger in the Caribbean than in their native waters in the Pacific Ocean.

Florida has taken several measures to combat the invasion, including a ban on importing the species for the aquarium trade, a ban on captive breeding of lionfish, easing restrictions on spearfishing and organizing spearfishing rodeos and roundups to remove as many as possible.

Lionfish are notoriously difficult to catch on hook and line, making spearfishing the most practical method of removal, although lobster fishermen in the Florida Keys have reported bringing up lionfish in their traps.

Gary Nichols, one of those lobster fishers who was interviewed by National Geographic, said he’s caught lionfish in his lobster traps for years, but just recently began noticing them feed on other conspecifics.

“I’ve seen a lot bigger lionfish [this year] and I’m seeing lionfish full of lionfish,” Nichols told National Geographic. “They’re eating all the little stuff up. I think because they’ve eaten up most of their food sources… now they’re eating other lionfish.”

IMAGE: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved a number of measures to combat invasive lionfish at the commission’s June 18, 2014 meeting. (Photos courtesy Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

For more on this story go to: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/07/lionfish_eating_lionfish_in_fl.html