With a system so large, what could possibly harm the Mesoamerican Reef system? I will use these next few pages to discuss how species such as the lionfish, and environmental factors like climate change, and bleaching as a result, pose a continuous threat to the wellbeing of the Mesoamerican Reef System. It will be up to us to use our knowledge to mitigate, not eradicate, the effects.
Lionfish:
Native to the southern and western Pacific, as well as the Indian ocean, It has been reported that the invasive species is posing a major threat to the wellbeing of the Mesoamerican Reef. According to studies the fish is out-breeding, out-living, and out-competing for resources in the reef. Females are capable of reproducing 10,000-15,000 eggs every 4 day! They can breed faster than rabbits and adapt to pretty much any environment. In…show more content… These creatures are normally free from predation, and crawl all over the mouths of organisms in order to do their jobs. As they cannot differentiate species, they do the same for the lionfish, who quickly swallows them up as another meal (Lionfish Hunting). The loss of these cleaning stations where these fish inhabit may cause irreparable damage to the areas of the reef that depend of this waste-removal. The good news is that many are pitching in to avert the crisis in areas. For example, off the coast of Florida, where this is a major problem, there have been public awareness campaigns, as well as lionfish derbies to see who could hunt and capture the most lionfish in the area. All of these come in an attempt to better understand the fish and how to potentially combat their growth (How Florida is Handling). By selling to restaurants and stores, humans have built an appetite for lionfish, and hunt it more in order to mitigate the damage to the ocean ecosystem, and by default, the Mesoamerican Reef System.
Bleaching & Climate
