Does this angel fish belong in the Atlantic?

I took a couple of shots of this angel fish just south of Breakers reef in West Palm Beach, Florida this past weekend. The photos aren't great, but I'm just looking for some help identifying the fish. Is this a pacific angel fish that someone let out of their aquarium?

Here is a link to the photos.

http://debersole.com/layout/0001/gallery_view.cfm?g=64

Go to page 6, pictures 3 and 4.

Sweet find. That is Pomacanthus maculosus. It definately does not belong there. It is from the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. Not a common species in the aquarium traide either.

Yep, that's it. Next time, whack it on the head and take it home w/ you...:-)

Cheers

James

This is a sad observation, introduction of exotic species is very bad for the environment. The worst case in Florida is the lion-fish, it's everywhere now, and there are reports saying that it reached Bermuda (naturally from Florida). People usually buy those fish for marine tanks when they are juveniles and as they get too big for their tanks they release them. In the case of this angelfish, there won't be a lot of harm because the species is rare in the aquarium trade and probably won't find a mate in the Atlantic. But other common species (like the lionfish) have established populations. There was also a lot of releases of exotic marine fish into the Atlantic after Nemo, so if you want to find nemo, you just need to look for it off the Florida coast.

So Luiz,

Perhaps you can tell us what type of damage the exotic fish do. Do they harm local inverts, etc?

Cheers

James

The fear with alien species is that there may be no preditors. If there are no predators they may overpopulate, decimating its food sourse and replace out any natural compitors which still have to face predation and a more limited food supply.

For example, what is going to eat the newly introduced atlantic Lionfish to keep it's population under controol. Nothing.

plus they may carry diseases not present in the new area and possibly transmit them across to endemic local species...

Yes, there are several examples of prejudicial exotic species. There is a tropical green algae (Caulerpa taxifolia, common in the aquarium trade) that is a real big problem in the Mediterranean (and now also California).

You may think that an alga is pretty harmless right, what can it do? Well, it is more successful than any native species and is driving all to extinction because it has no predators, so instead of a diverse array of algae, the Mediterranean will soon have only one species (which can't be eaten by the local fish and invertebrates because of its chemical defences).

There are also 20-30 marine fish that invaded the Mediterranean from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal, the problem with introduction of exoctic species is that you can never predict the outcome until it is too late.

Here is a link about the alga invasion if you want to read more:

Invasion of Caulerpa taxifolia

I kept my response to marine organisms, but there are several other examples of harmful introduction of exotic terrestrial species (they are easier to carry).

I kept my response to marine organisms, but there are several other examples of harmful introduction of exotic terrestrial species (they are easier to carry).

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Agree. Think of Australia. Rats. Rabbits. Mice. Europeans !

This is a huge problem in many places: zebra mussels in the Great Lakes; nutria, water hyacinth and formosan termites in south Louisiana; fire ants and kudzu in the southern US.

Non-native species often find that they have no predators and can adapt to their new environments and out-compete native species for food sources, often driving native species to the brink of extinction.

There's a lot of info on the US government's Invasive Species site, as well as links to other nation's invasive species programs.

Agree. Think of Australia. Rats. Rabbits. Mice. Europeans !

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The last are the worst ones, for sure!

Unfortunately, lionfish have established themselves, quite sucessfully, in North carolina. They are increasing rapidly. I love seeing them in PNG, but NOT here.

Oh I saw exotics and had to throw my exotic in there. I worked for the USGS water resources div for a while and may favorite exotic to hate is the Indo-Pacific swimming crab (Charibdys hellerii). Found many of them in the intracoastal waterway here in FL. Unsure of its impact on other inverts. It has established itself well here in FL.