After having suffered the ferocious invasion of the blue crabsthe ecosystem of the Mediterranean Sea is once again shaken by the arrival of a new predator, the scorpion fish (Pterois miles). Some specimens have also been sighted along the Italian coastsin Sicily, Puglia and Calabria to be exact, with marine biologists who have expressed concern about the arrival of this new predator native to the Red Sea. The scorpion fish has, in fact, a great ability to colonize new habitats and it’s dangerous for humans too due to its long, thin, poisonous spines.
Scorpion fish arrives in the Mediterranean Sea
As explained by Claudio Brinatiexpert biologist, the scorpion fish it is capable of significantly impacting our marine ecosystems. According to Brignati, after the first sightings of the species in South-Eastern Sicily, the fish could expand within a few years along all the Italian coasts.
Also called lionfish, the scorpion fish is a tropical species very showy that has the natural ability to invade ecosystems that are originally foreign to it. Native to the Red Seabut also present in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and, since the 90s also in Florida, it has been able to rapidly invade the whole Carribean Sea and most of the Western Atlantic coasts. The impact on local ecosystems has been devastating each time. Now the sightings in Mediterraneanin Italyas well as in Greece And Croatiaputs our marine environment at serious risk.
The impact on the Mediterranean ecosystem
The arrival of the scorpion fish In the Mediterranean Sea will have, according to experts, a very negative impact on the ecosystem local and, by extension, also on the fishing. As stated in Fanpage from Mark Oliverioprofessor of zoology at the Charles Darwin Department of Biology and Biotechnology at La Sapienza University in Rome, “the invasion is dramatic” because the scientific data available are “very heavy”. “The effect they have is devastating – said Olivieiro – Their job is to do the predators and they eat the young of other fish, the fry. They eat a lot of them. They are war machines in this respect. They are having incredible effects on the local fauna”.
For Oliviero, the arrival of the scorpion fish in the Mediterranean will have inevitable consequences on fishing, “because the ecosystems that support fish resources no longer exist”, with the consequent reduction of stocks and earnings for those who make a living from fishing.
Scorpion fish, the risks for humans
In addition to the damage to ecosystems, Ispra, the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, has underlined that the scorpion fishand represents a risk also for the human healthThe danger is represented by its poisonous thorns which, long and thin, are located in correspondence with the dorsal, anal and pelvic fins and which remain poisonous even 24/48 hours after the death of the fish.
A scorpion fish sting creates severe and persistent pain that leads to symptoms such as nausea, vomit, fever, convulsions, difficulty respiratory And diarrhea. In the most serious cases, a close encounter with this fish species can lead to local necrosis and loss of sensation for several days.
Ispra itself informs that, following a scorpion fish sting, it is necessary first of all to remove the spines and disinfect, taking care to then immerse the area in very hot water to break the protein structure of the toxin and reduce the pain.
