A juvenile lionfish turned up Sunday at Great Lameshur Bay on the south side of St. John, V.I. Environmental Resource Station Administrator (VIERS) Randy Brown said Monday.
"That means they’re having babies," Brown said.
The lionfish was two inches long and was captured by Nick Przyusi, a researcher at the University of San Diego, who’s worked at VIERS since August, Brown said.
The scourge of lionfish started on St. Croix in December 2008 and has since spread to St. Thomas, St. John and the nearby British Virgin Islands.
"The gate is open and they are coming," said Rafe Boulon, chief of resource management at V.I. National Park.
The first lionfish on St. John was captured March 9 near Waterlemon Cay on the island’s north side by V.I. National Park staff. Boulon said that fish was also a juvenile.
The lionfish captured Sunday is in the park’s freezer, Boulon said.
William Coles, chief of environmental education at the Fish and Wildlife Division of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, said a total of 26 lionfish have been captured. He said the 25 were in the U.S. Virgin Islands and one in the British Virgin Islands.
Just last week, Coles said lionfish turned up at Stumpy Bay on St. Thomas and on Hans Lollick, an island off St. Thomas.
He urged anyone who spots a lionfish to report it. To make it easier for scientists and others to capture them, he asked that those who swim, snorkel or dive carry a make-at-home marker to identify the spot where they saw the lionfish. It uses about four feet of emergency tape such as the type used at crime scenes. The tape is tied to a washer of the size used with a three-quarter-inch bolt. Tie the other end to a wine bottle cork. When the fish is spotted, drop the device in the water. Call Fish and Wildlife or the park for assistance.
"Everyone that was marked was found and removed very quickly," Coles said.
Staff at government agencies, as well as dive shops in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, are working together to fight the arrival of the lionfish, but Coles said that people swimming, snorkeling and diving are the first line of defense.
The fish are dangerous predators that threaten to eat the territory’s reef fish, crustaceans and mollusks. Those reef fish keep the reefs clean of algae. If the algae take over, the reefs will die.
Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific region but invaded the Atlantic after Hurricane Andrew devastated south Florida in 1992. People dumped aquarium contents into the ocean because they didn’t have any electricity to keep the aquariums running. Divers saw the first one off Florida in 1994.
View complete instructions on making the lionfish markers at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHzpm2zeTL0
To report sightings, call Boulon at 693-8950, extension 224. Reach Coles on the lionfish hotline at 643-0800.
