The heaviest lionfish ever caught in the Atlantic was speared off the Florida Keys

It was only 3 pounds and change, but for a lionfish that’s huge. Record-setting, in fact.

Florida wildlife officials say the spiny, stripy specimen caught by diver Timothy Blasko in the Florida Keys has set the record as the heaviest lionfish ever caught in the Atlantic Ocean.

Blasko speared the “large invader” on August 6, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

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Lionfish, despite having a scary name, aren’t very big. The one caught by Blasko, which he snagged while diving at Tennessee Reef in the middle Keys, weighed in at 3.10 pounds, according to a Facebook post on the commission’s Reef Rangers page.

But they’ve been exacting a huge toll on coastal waters in Florida, mainly because they’re not supposed to be here in the first place. Native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, they have no known predators on this side of the world. So they go on multiplying and eating native species and generally altering the ecosystem.

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“Unique” is the word the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission uses to describe how lionfish reproduce.

“Females release two gelatinous egg masses of about 12,000 to 15,000 eggs each,” according to the commission. “These masses float and can drift for about 25 days. Lionfish can spawn every four days in warmer climates.”

Lionfish were reportedly first spotted in South Florida waters in 1985, off Dania Beach. How they got here isn’t fully known, but one of the theories is that they were released from home aquariums.

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