Question

Any idea how the lion fish got over to the east coast?

Answer 1

I also think that Aquarists released them after they got too big for their aquariums. This happened with several freshwater fish in Florida, an example being the Pleicostomas catfish, which in the wild can reach large sizes.

Answer 2

mostly people releasing them into the wild when they got too big for their home aquarium. Same way the python is also rampent in Florida now.

Answer 3

In the bilges of ships.  They got sucked in when ships took on water in native waters and spit out on the East Coast when the ships emptied the bilge.