Scorpionfish Predators??

With all the hype on lionfish invading our local waters in Palm Beach I was wondering... Has anyone ever seen (photographed!), read, or heard any stories of any animal that has fed on a scorpionfish (in any of the oceans)? I have seen goliath groupers feed on poisonous pufferfish so perhaps they would have some immunity to the venom of scorpionfish / lionfish. Eels?

I can't seem to find anything online. Just curious...

With all the hype on lionfish invading our local waters in Palm Beach I was wondering... Has anyone ever seen (photographed!), read, or heard any stories of any animal that has fed on a scorpionfish (in any of the oceans)? I have seen goliath groupers feed on poisonous pufferfish so perhaps they would have some immunity to the venom of scorpionfish / lionfish. Eels?

 

I can't seem to find anything online. Just curious...

Spotted eels in Cozumel have been seen taking live lionfish. Snappers will eat dead/wounded lionfish - in fact they are now following the dive guides in hope of snagging a meal.

Brilliant! It's good to hear that spotted eels are feeding on lionfish. I did see one spotted eel attempt to feed on a lionfish I was photographing in Palm Beach, but it quickly lost interest. While we do have mutton snappers in Palm Beach, unfortunately they are heavily targeted by spear fisherman. This might stand as a good reason to protect them a little better. Hopefully other predator fish will learn to associate the lionfish as prey. A friend of mine attempted to feed a large green moray a lionfish (after we removed the venomous spines) this week and it was extremely hesitant to eat it. It eventually did, though.

Do you know the name of any of the Cozumel operators that are seeing the predation of lionfish by snappers? I would really like to speak to them.

My question still remains, though... Does anything feed on an adult scorpionfish? From what I've read these have a more potent venom than do the lionfish.

I've seen lemon sharks eat one at Tiger Beach. Although they only went after it after a diver (purposely) injured it. I hope that helped them learn they can hunt the lionfish on their own.

-Gina

Frog fish eat lionfish.

cuttlefish, lizardfish and scorpionfish eat scorpionfish around here...

cuttlefish, lizardfish and scorpionfish eat scorpionfish around here...

I have seen giant moray eels eat stone fish in the red sea so I am sure a scorpianfish wouldn't pose too much problem.

Do you know the name of any of the Cozumel operators that are seeing the predation of lionfish by snappers? I would really like to speak to them.

All of them! I don't know of any operator who isn't actively engaged in killing lionfish in the Marine Park. The dead or wounded LFs are offered to any fish nearby. I've observed snappers, grunts, eels, lobsters, hinds, and groupers readily eat lionfish, fins and all. Hopefully, they will learn that LF are food and start catching them on their own.

Homo sapiens eat lionfish here in North Carolina......after we spear them and grill them up . Tasty little critters. But, I have not seen any other fish predating on them.

Bob

Frogfish do eat scorpionfish

Saw this in Malapascua, apologies for the poor quality image, it was pre-Nauticam!

apologies for the poor quality image, it was pre-Nauticam!

Excellent piece of selfless promotion

Dive safe

DeanB

Depending on what you include as 'scorpionfish' I know that otters eat our local varieties here in the UK as the bones from these fish are found after they have passed through the otter!

There is a great scene of a moray eel hunting a stonefish at night in the film Ocean Oasis (google it and you should be able to find a copy). It is a feature on the Sea of Cortez and is pretty spectacular in general, definitely worth a watch. They re-broadcast it from time to time on PBS.