In lab, we got to dissect lionfish. Here on Bonaire, lionfish are an invasive species impacting the coral reef indirectly. The lionfish prey on herbivores, which are important for coral reefs because they remove algae. During the dissection, we removed the spines first. The spines on the top and bottom are venomous, so, when the spine punctures something, the venom is released. After the spines are removed, we cut open the belly and removed the stomach. We were looking to see what the lionfish last ate. The first lionfish I dissected had two small fish and a shrimp in its stomach; however, the second fish I dissected had an empty stomach. After we saw what was in its stomach, we got to do what ever else we wanted to. I mainly looked at its mouth and esophagus. Lionfish are able to expand its mouth so it can eat things two-thirds its own size. It was fun messing around with the lionfish and seeing how much the mouth can expand.
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| 2 fish and a shrimp in the stomach |
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| Expanded mouth |
How fun, beats the standard frog thing in high school lab, eh?
ReplyDeleteYes it does. Although, I never did a frog dissection in HS. I did do a pig dissection, though.
ReplyDeleteRemembering my youth not yours I guess.
ReplyDelete