Coral - January/February 2011

they can to us. We are essentially trying to create
this market.”
“We sell the Atlantic lionfish for $19.99 to
encourage sales,” says Hughes. “That’s $10.00
less than our least expensive Pacific lionfish.
We hope that hobbyists will embrace these ef-
forts and choose Atlantic lionfish for their tanks.
(Our experience is that they are identical to their
Pacific counterparts). It’s not THE solution, but
it creates a market for the collectors that would
not ordinarily have existed, and as we all know,
the more we can get out of the water the better.”
Bill Backus of A&M Aquatics, a marinelife
wholesaler in Lansing, Michigan, says he was
impressed with the health and vigor of Pterois li-
onfish he speared in the Bahamas on a dive trip
with author Matthew Wittenrich, reported on in
CORAL in 2009 (Vol. 6, No. 5, Lionfish in the At-
lantic). “At that point, we were told it was illegal
to possess these fish on a boat, but we have had
them in stock weekly for the past few months.
They are collected more as a by-catch when col-
lecting other reef fish. We are not currently dif-
ferentiating between Caribbean Basin or Indo-
Pacific. The fish collected from the Caribbean
are probably better suited for the aquarium trade
than the imports from the South Pacific. The

Seven reasons why you should use ReVive Coral Cleaner™

Catalaphyllia jardinei
Fungia sp.

Blastomussa wellsi
Acanthastrea lordhowensis
Caulastrea furcata
Acropora sp.

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