Rogue fish is pirate of the Caribbean: 14-08-2008
Travellers in the warm waters of the Caribbean might want to watch out for a dangerous escapee with a reputation for violent behaviour.
But far from being a criminal on the run, the red lionfish is believed to have escaped from a Florida fish tank.
Unfortunately, it has been wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, with sightings near Cuba and the Caymans.
The maroon and white stripped species has been breeding furiously after enjoying gorging on local wildlife not normally found in its native India.
The fish has poisonous spines and can eat up to 20 small fish in half an hour.
Divers looking to get to the Caribbean to have a first-hand look at the delicate ecosystem would be encouraged to do so quickly after it emerged that the introduction of a new fish, the Nile Perch, into an African lake wiped out 200 fish species.
Environmentalists are hopeful a similar thing doesn't occur in the Caribbean and are even considering bringing in predators in to combat the problem.
"We have gotten (sharks) to successfully eat a lionfish, but it has been a lot of work," Andy Dehart of the National Aquarium in Washington told Discovery News.
"Most of our attempts with the moray eel have been unsuccessful."