Selma is a tiny seahorse. She’s a supple-wupple seahorse. She has a beautiful swirly tail. Selma’s tail is the most flexible part of her. She can roll it up into a coil or stretch it out as straight as a ruler. She can even bend her tail right up to scratch her own head with it!

Selma is also a sedate seahorse. So she doesn’t do anything in a hurry. She swims very slowly. And mostly, she just hangs around in the sea. Selma has lots of friends. She sees them every day. They hang out among the seagrass and coral together.

One day, Selma is with her friends comparing how supple their teeny tiny tails are. They twist them into some incredible shapes! Selma is showing her friends how she can use her tail as a scarf when she spots something out of the corner of her eye. She thinks she can see something hiding in the seagrass. Selma quickly unwinds her tail from her neck.

She pokes her little head through the long, wavy tendrils of grass. She was right. There’s a fish in there!

The fish is much bigger than Selma, and it has lots of stripes all over its body. It also has lots of spiky spines. It’s beautiful to look at, but also a bit scary. Selma moves her snout a bit closer to the fish’s face. It isn’t moving much. Then she notices little droplets in the corner of its eyes. They’re salty tears. The fish is crying.

“Hey, are you OK?” Selma asks. “Did something happen? Are you here alone?”

“Hi,” replies the fish. “Yes, I’m o-o-on my o-o-own. I’m really lo-o-onely,” he stutters, between sobs. “The other fish don’t want to be friends with me.”

“Come on out, don’t hide away,” Selma encourages the fish, ”What’s your name?”

“I’m Lenny,” the fish answers, cautiously.

“What kind of fish are you?” Selma enquires. “I’ve not seen one like you before.”

“I’m a lionfish,” says Lenny, his tears stopping. “My family and I are pretty new around here.”

“Why do you think the other fish don’t want to be friends with you?” Selma enquires. “Are you sure it’s not just your imagination?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve heard them say that they’re scared of lionfish because of overpopulation. They’re worried there are too many of us coming in to this area and our numbers keep growing. They say we we’re taking things over and ruining their home.”

“That doesn’t sound good at all. Are there a lot of you?” asks Selma.

“Yes, quite a few, come to think of it. The other fish say we eat too much as well, so there’s not enough food left for them.”

Selma doesn’t like seeing Lenny so upset and wants to help. She wraps her tail around a piece of seagrass so the current doesn’t carry her away. Then she floats up, down, forwards and backwards, whilst she has a think. As she bobs around in the water, an idea bobs right into her head!

“Lenny, where are your mum and dad? I think I can help but we’ll need their assistance.”

Lenny looks hopeful. “They’re back at home.”

“Then let’s go and find them,” says Selma. “It might take us some time.” And with that, they swim off slowly, as seahorses and lionfish do. After a little while, they locate Lenny’s parents. Selma explains the situation.

“Oh Lenny!” exclaims Lenny’s mum. “We don’t want you to be without friends. What can we do to help?”

Lenny looks at Selma and she reaches her tail up to scratch her head with it.

“Well, there are a couple of things,” Selma replies. “Do you think you could get all the lionfish to stop eating so much?” she asks.

Lenny’s dad looks down at his rather round stomach.

“We have got big appetites. I don’t think cutting down would do us any harm,” he says. “I’ll tell them straight away.”

“And could you maybe stop reproducing so much?” Selma enquires, quietly.

“You mean have fewer babies?” Lenny’s dad asks.

“Yes,” Selma blushes.

“I think you might need to talk to Lenny’s mum about that one,” Lenny’s dad laughs.

Lenny’s mum looks thoughtful, “Spawning two million eggs a year is rather a lot. The other lionfish mums and I could try to spawn less often, or produce fewer eggs.”

“Brilliant!” says Selma, smiling at Lenny. Lenny grins back. “Let’s go and tell the other fish!”

Selma and Lenny head back to where the fish are playing. Selma explains what the lionfish are going to do to overcome the effects of overpopulation. They all smile and look really relieved. A few of them swim tentatively up to Lenny.

“Sorry about before,” they say. “We were a bit scared of you. But only a really good friend would go to all this trouble to help. How about you join us for a game of fish chase?”

Lenny’s face lights up. In his excitement, he charges straight into the middle of the group of fish. They all immediately scatter around him, looking terrified.

“Hey, slowly does it!” chuckles Selma. “You’d best watch those spines Lenny! Especially if you ever want more lionfish to come along and play!”

Lenny smiles, and looks a bit embarrassed. “Sorry everyone, I forgot! I’ll be more careful in future,” he reassures them all. He doesn’t want to risk losing the friends he’s only just made!

 

Questions for discussion

Does overpopulation mean there are too many or too few of a particular species?

What problems can overpopulation of a certain species cause?

What things can be done to help stop a species from  overpopulation?