ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD. AUGUST 23, 2025

Divers in the Mediterranean Sea reported finding that invasive species, including the venomous Lionfish, are increasing their population counts as the waters’ average temperature continues to rise.

The growing population of invasive species was also met with the declining presence of native species, divers told the nature website Earth after exploring the coastal waters of Turkey.

The accounts also came only weeks after an Israeli surfer was hospitalized after stepping on a Lionfish at Palmachim Beach, Ynet reported.

The fish, with long venomous spines, migrated from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, Israel Nature and Parks Authority Marine Ranger Omri Omessi told Ynet.

A free diver looks at a lionfish, an invasive type of fish in the Mediterranean sea, while diving near the shores of the northern coastal Lebanese city of Batroun on June 8, 2025. (credit: IBRAHIM CHALHOUB/AFP via Getty Images)
A free diver looks at a lionfish, an invasive type of fish in the Mediterranean sea, while diving near the shores of the northern coastal Lebanese city of Batroun on June 8, 2025. (credit: IBRAHIM CHALHOUB/AFP via Getty Images)

Native to the waters off the coast of Eilat, the fish’s spread has caused ecological concerns for experts. Omessi said that while the stings may be painful, they are rarely fatal unless the fish’s victim has an allergy to the venom.

The quick spread of the fish has been largely attributed to rising sea temperatures, and figures from Mercator Ocean International indicate that June and July were the hottest on record.

“About a decade ago, we saw one or two of them. Now we’re talking about 15 or 20 per dive – even more than when we go to the Red Sea,” Murat Draman, a scuba instructor off Antalya in southern Turkey, told Earth. 

“The invasion started almost immediately after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869,” Gil Rilov, a professor at Israel’s Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute, also told the site. “But now it’s getting warmer, and also (in 2015), the canals got deeper and wider, so more and more new species move in every year.” 

Rise in rabbitfish

The report comes only months after the Jerusalem Post spoke with Tel Aviv University Zoologist Dr. Menachem Goren about the rise in rabbitfish in Israeli waters.

The venomous aquatic invader comes in four subspecies, two of which are currently found in the Mediterranean.

While the fish has long been recorded in Israel, the population has dramatically increased in recent years as a result of climate change, spreading as far into Europe as France, Dr. Goren explained.

The Environment and Climate Change portal is produced in cooperation with the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Jerusalem Post maintains all editorial decisions related to the content.

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https://www.jpost.com/environment-and-climate-change/article-865088