Lionfish!

  • I have been doing a lot of lion fish hunting lately. I write it off as volunteer work for my annual evaluations. (what better way to earn volunteer hours than spearfishing right?)


    I just thought I would secure a spot for people to post pictures, information etc.


    I shot this one today in about 40 feet of water. he was 16" and had to be a few pounds. as far as I know the largest recorded LF is 18"


    Just a few randoms from me and my dive buddy.




    I was filleting the 16"er today and thought the spines were interesting.



    I shot one about 3 weeks ago. I was taking him off my spear in kind of a hurry, to feed it to a jewfish nearby. To make a long story short, I got lazy and he took advantage. He poked me right through my 3 mil kevlar gloves. I immediately surfaced and started the boat to run my hand under the water coming out of the engine. (I read somewhere the venom is neutralized at roughly 110* .) we called the marine poison control line and they recommended some benedryl and an ibuprofin. While I was under the hot water, it hardly hurt at all. I even considered doing a second dive. We decided against it and started our 10 mile journey back to the marina. I would say it was about 30 seconds after taking my hand out of the hot water that it started to hurt... a lot. My hand cramped up and had a weird aching tingling feeling which ended up lasting about 2 days. It was swollen for about 5 days, and the tendon between my thumb and index finger still doesn't feel quite right.




  • Thanks for the pics and the contribution. I'm always glad to see anyone contribute like this. I'm afraid there's a perfectly good explanation for your misfortune regarding the sting though. Lionfish were introduced to the Atlantic as a way to punish those who spearfish on scuba. It comes with the territory unfortunately

    Scupper Pro Gives You Wings!

  • Hey now. When I'm spearfishing, I free dive. I just happen to bring a gun while I'm scuba diving. :D


    The first two were shot free diving. you can even see my float line in one.

  • sheff, what i do is carry a scissor with me all the time and when i get one of the i don't touch them untill it's completelly trimmed .....

  • Looks like you missed the pelvic fins Steven.






    Another source.



    Now my question is how close do you have to cut the fins to eliminate all possibility of a venomous sting? I mean doing it like in this pic will fix it for sure, but I'm wondering what's the minimum that needs to be cut off.


  • Here's some information. But it says the venom gland is at the base of the spine which to me implies it's near the fish's body, whereas in the drawing it looks like it's near the end of the spine.

    Quote

    A venom gland is located at the base of each spine. After the spine punctures the skin, the venom enters the wound by traveling up a groove in the spine. Lionfish spines are not like hypodermic syringes or pit viper fangs. Instead, a loose integumentary sheath (skin) covers each spine and during envenomation, the sheath is pushed down the spine, causing compression of two venom glands located at the base. The neurotoxic venom then travels from the glands through depressions (grooves) in the wall of the spine and into the puncture wound. There have been at least four toxins identified: an antigenic heat-labile protein which is the primary toxin; acetylcholine (pronunciation: ah-see-toe-coe'-lean) which is a neurotransmitter; a neuromuscular toxin; and a low molecular weight non-proteinaceous ichthyotoxin. There is evidence that commercially available stonefish anti-venom has detoxifying effects on lionfish venom.


  • Lionfish venom is a thermolabile protein, easy way to denature it is to heat it to ~46*C /114*F. It is possible to denature it via hypothermia, but I don't believe conventional freezing methods can get the temperature low enough. I'll see if I can find the hypothermic denature temp when I get home, I'm farely certain it's extremely low.

    Edited once, last by Nate ().

  • Looks like a reaction to the venom can be extreme Saltwater and Freshwater Fishing Forums, Fishing Report warning it's graphic I didn't want to link to the pics. I wouldn't want anyone putting a lion fish in the same cooler with the rest of the fish. Someone that didn't know the lion fish is there can reach in and get stung.

  • Wow, this thread is turning out much better than I thought. Thanks for all of your input. I'm goin to pick up some shears from now on. It was the pec fin that stung me, but I trim everything except the tail when I'm filleting them.

    Edited once, last by sheff ().

  • this is what i got and is strong enough.it cost me $12 and it cuts everything a scissor can cut. as soon as i finish with the spines i cut it open and gut it. i also do it with all the fish i catch so i don't have to do it later.
    pics didnt come up i'll try it again.

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