It is precisely because of this habit of lionfish that it is extremely difficult for ordinary fishermen to catch lionfish.
There is a common saying in the market that rare things are more expensive, so the price of lionfish in the ornamental fish market is not low. Usually a palm-sized lionfish can be sold for dozens of dollars.
"Lionfish are solitary and like to live alone. How come we can catch so many lionfish with this net?" Chen Qingsheng wondered.
"This is not difficult to explain. Lionfish are nocturnal. At night, they will swim and forage in the dark water by slowly raising and lowering the fins on their backs and buttocks. After the sun rises, they will hide in the shadows of corals and rocks to rest. When resting, they will lower their heads and stay completely still. They can communicate with nearby companions through touch, smell and secreted chemicals. Our boat has been parked on this water for a while. It must be a coincidence that a lionfish used it as a parasol, calling a large group of lionfish over." Xiang Yang explained.
Lionfish are at the top of the food web in coral reef environments.
They feed mainly on crustaceans, invertebrates and small fish that live in coral reefs.
Lionfish have a huge appetite. An adult lionfish will eat 8.2 times its own body weight in food every year.
Sunset is the best time for lionfish to hunt, as most fish and invertebrates return to their resting places during this time, while nocturnal fish come out to forage for food.
Because the animals around are ready to rest, lionfish do not need to expend too much energy looking for prey.
Lionfish are silent killers of the seafloor, usually swimming quietly around coral reefs as they hunt, suddenly attacking and catching their victims when they are least expected.
When a lionfish attempts to hunt small fish, it usually spreads out all the fins on its chest to cover the movement of its tail fin. In addition, its bright color blends in with the coral reef background, making it difficult for prey to spot the lionfish.
Lionfish will swallow their prey whole in one gulp after catching it.
As long as the swallowing process is fast or smooth enough, other fish with the victim may not notice that their companions have been eaten. At this time, the lionfish can continue to chase other unaware fish.
Lionfish sometimes hunt in the open ocean.
They will observe schools of small fish at a depth of 20-30 cm from the water surface. When a school of small fish jumps out of the water in an attempt to avoid another predator, the lionfish will swim under the school of small fish at a very fast speed and wait for them to fall back into the water before attacking.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that lionfish are steel-straight fish.
If two lionfish meet while hunting, the more aggressive male will darken its body color and point its poisonous spines at the relatively weaker female, while the female will fold its pectoral fins and swim away to find the next prey.
"It's time to make a decision. Either release these lionfish immediately or clean up the catch right now, otherwise they will die of dehydration," said He Mingde.
"Let him go." Chen Qingsheng suggested, shaking his head.
"Why should we release them?" Fang Youqun said anxiously, "Can't we wait until they die and then freeze them?"
"Why freeze it? This is not an edible fish." Chen Qingsheng rolled his eyes.
"Can't eat?"
"You are not allowed to eat it." Xiang Yang said with a smile: "Lionfish is also called lionfish. Lionfish was listed in the Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union in 2016. Although it is not a protected animal in our country, no one will say anything if we bring them back alive and sell them as ornamental fish, but it is not a good idea to sell them as edible fish."
"Master Zhou, let's release these lionfish." Xiang Yang ordered. Although these lionfish seemed to be gathering harmoniously under the fishing boat, Xiang Yang knew that these fish were very exclusive of their companions. If they were kept in the same water tank, they would definitely fight.
It would be a waste for Xiang Yang to keep each of these lionfish in a separate fish tank. It would be fine if the fishing boat was returning, but they had just set out to sea and it was impossible to waste so many fish tanks to raise these lionfish.
"Okay." Although Zhou Wang felt regretful, he didn't say anything. He directly operated the winch to dump all the lionfish back into the ocean.
Fang Youqun stood on the side of the boat, listening to the sound of the lionfish falling into the water and holding his heart with his hands in pain. This was all money, any one of them could be sold for hundreds of dollars.
The fishing net was retrieved and the fishing boat continued to set sail.
This time, Xiang Yang asked Xu Fang to continue sailing eastward while the boat headed slightly south. Xiang Yang felt that it was time to go to the deep water area to drag a net, and they couldn't always sail in the diving area not far from the shore.
Xu Fang received Xiang Yang's order and immediately sailed the fishing boat towards the deep water area.
At this time, the crew members who had gone to sea earlier could finally have a good rest and recover their strength.
At this time, the Steller's sea eagle that had been staying on Xiang Yang's boat suddenly cried out loudly, then jumped up happily and dived into the bottom of the ocean.
Many crew members on the ship were startled and ran to the side of the ship.
Xiang Yang was among them. He also stared at the sea. With the help of the jade shell, Xiang Yang saw that after the Steller's sea eagle leaped to the bottom of the sea, it was like a swan folding its wings and gliding in the sky. Its gliding speed on the seabed was very fast, even comparable to the speed when it spread its wings in the sky.
"Could this stupid bird have seen a sea snake or is planning to provoke a squid again?" Xiang Yang thought to himself. The Steller's sea eagle has had no shortage of food as it has been fed by the crew during this period. It has not gone down to the sea to catch food by itself for many days.
The fish that can attract the Steller's sea eagle to go to the sea cannot be an ordinary fish. It must be either the Steller's sea eagle's favorite food or the creature that the Steller's sea eagle hates the most.
The Steller's sea eagle's favorite foods are chicks, lambs and snakes. It is obviously impossible to have chicks and lambs in the sea. If the Steller's sea eagle goes to the sea for food, it will definitely find sea snakes.
As for the animal that the Steller's sea eagle hates the most
Xiang Yang didn't know what animals other Steller's sea eagles hated the most, but the one this Steller's sea eagle hated the most must be the giant squid, because it was almost dragged underwater and drowned by the giant squid.
Soon, Xiang Yang saw the Steller's sea eagle dive directly into a patch of water grass on the seabed. Its powerful claws reached out to grab a flower that looked very much like a lily on land, but the bud was drooping, like a strange plant that was about to wither after blooming.
The strange plant was caught by the talons of the Steller's sea eagle and was pulled out of the mud on the seabed by its roots.