Diversity of lionfishes (Pisces: Scorpaenidae) among remote coral reefs of the Palau Archipelago

104

The invasion of the Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans into the western Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico is the fastest ever documented for a marine fish. Few studies have addressed the establishment of lionfish populations within a location, and habitats other than reefs have been largely overlooked. The present study reconstructed the invasion around South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), from multiple sources of data. Densities and size frequencies of lionfish were compared in deep reefs (10 to 30 m) and shallow habitats (seagrass, mangrove, sheltered reef, and exposed reef < 5 m deep) over a 4 yr period (2007 to 2010). By the end of 2010, lionfish had been observed in all 5 habitats. There was a lag of almost 7 mo between the first sightings in shallow habitats (December 2007) and in deep reefs. After 2 to 3 yr, the density of lionfish in deep reefs surpassed those in shallow habitats. In November 2010, mean density was over 10× higher on deep reefs (9.51 lionfish seen observer −1 h −1 ± 5.37 SD) than in seagrass (0.87 ± 0.41; p < 0.05), which was significantly higher than in other shallow habitats (sheltered reef: 0.52 ± 0.47; exposed reef: 0.12 ± 0.13; and mangrove: 0.06 ± 0.10; p < 0.05). Lionfish on deep reefs (TL = 22.7 ± 7.5 cm) had significantly larger total lengths (TL; mean ± SD) than those in seagrass (TL = 15.0 ± 4.3 cm; p < 0.05) or sheltered reefs (TL = 14.6 ± 6.8 cm; p < 0.05). Assuming one population with ontogenetic movement between habitats, density and age estimates suggest that lionfish may have moved to deep reefs from other habitats. The results suggest that lionfish may settle preferentially, but not exclusively, in shallow habitats before moving to deep reefs. Only 2 studies have explicitly compared lionfish between different habitats. Barbour et al. (2010) found that mangroves supported higher densities of smaller-sized individuals than nearby reef areas, which has since been interpreted as displaying the nursery function of mangroves (Barbour et al. 2011). Similarly, Biggs & Olden (2011) reported that lionfish in seagrass were smaller than those found on reefs and suggested that lionfish may use seagrass as nurseries. Although the global concern focuses on lionfish's impact on reefs (Sutherland et al. 2010), evidently the threat also extends to other habitats such as mangroves and seagrass, especially in the context of their nursery function for native species (Nagelkerken 2000, Nagelkerken et al. 2001, Mumby et al. 2004. Therefore, whether ontogenetic changes in habitat use are also displayed by P. volitans warrants further investigation (Barbour et al. 2010).Additionally, whilst the international effort to document the spread of lionfish throughout its invasive range has been considerable (Schofield 2009, 2010, Johnston & Purkis 2011, far less emphasis has been placed on how a population develops within a new location as it becomes colonized. Thus, quantitative assessments of densities and sizes of lionfish across habitats, depths, and time have n...

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progression of invasive lionfish in seagrass, mangrove and reef habitats

Claydon¹,

Calosso²,

Traiger³

2012

104

“…Bahamian studies documented lionfish at 5 to 177 times higher densities than in their native range (Grubich et al 2009), capable of reducing reef fish recruitment by 79% from experimental patch reefs, and preying mostly on fishes (78% by volume), including 41 species from 21 families (Albins & Hixon 2008, Green & Cote 2009. Based on laboratory studies, 80 adult lionfish along a 1 km stretch of reef in Eilat (Red Sea) were estimated to cumulatively consume approximately 230 kg of mostly small-bodied prey fishes per year (Fishelson 1997).…”

Section: Resale or Republication Not Permitted Without Written Consenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Predation by large carnivores such as groupers and sharks may represent one of the best controls for invasive lionfish (Albins & Hixon 2008), as low densities (~2.2 ind. ha -1 ) of lionfish were observed in their native range on Palauan reefs with robust grouper populations (Grubich et al 2009). …”

Section: Potential Impacts -Trophic Overlap and Direct Predationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet of invasive lionfish on hard bottom reefs of the Southeast USA: insights from stomach contents and stable isotopes

Muñ̃oz¹,

Currin²,

Whitfield³

2011

120

The Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles complex) has become widely established along the United States Southeast coast and continues to colonize the Caribbean, yet its biology and ecology is only beginning to be understood. We used stomach contents and stable isotope analyses to determine the diet of lionfish in the warm-temperate hard bottom reef community in the Southeast US Atlantic Ocean. During June to August 2004 and 2006, we collected lionfish with SCUBA from 18 different locations in Onslow Bay, North Carolina, at depths of 30 to 45 m. In 2006, we also conducted visual surveys of small benthic fishes to estimate the abundances of potential prey. Analyses of stomach contents (n = 183) and stable isotopes (n = 115) suggest a generalist carnivorous diet, and prey categories were predominately fish (~99% of total volume) from 16 families. Major differences in the importance of prey occurred between years. Serranidae and Scaridae dominated the diet in 2004, while Haemulidae and Carangidae were important in 2006. Analyses of visual prey surveys did not reveal specialization on particular prey taxa but instead suggest that prey are consumed in relation to their local abundance. Given current theory pertaining to invasive species impacts, the expanding lionfish distribution, and observations that lionfish appear capable of settling to many different habitat types, the overall pattern of generalist piscivory emerging from these data indicates the potential for significant impacts to the invaded community.KEY WORDS: Marine invasion · Rocky reef · Scorpaenidae · Warm temperate · Continental shelf · Piscivory · Diet · Prey Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 432: [181][182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193] 2011 Along the United States Southeast Atlantic coast, and in Bermuda and the Bahamas, red lionfish Pterois volitans and devil firefish P. miles are now established and are continuing to expand their range in the Caribbean , Schofield 2009). These 2 species are nearly morphologically identical and 93% of specimens sampled from the Atlantic as well as North Carolina were P. volitans (Hamner et al. 2007), so hereafter we refer to invasive specimens collectively as lionfish or P. volitans. Native to the subtropical and tropical regions of the South Pacific, Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea, lionfish are venomous predators whose popularity in the aquarium trade may have contributed to their introduction to Atlantic waters (Whitfield et al. 2002, Semmens et al. 2004, Ruiz-Carus et al. 2006. Classified as demersal mesocarnivores together with groupers (Serranidae) and snappers (Lutjanidae) (Caillet et al. 1986), lionfish are believed to be opportunistic predators that consume fish, shrimp, and crabs in their native range (Hiatt & Strasburg 1960, Harmelin-Vivien & Bouchon 1976, Sano et al. 1984. However, until their recent invasion of the Atlantic and Caribbean, their biology and ecology were poorly understood bey...

“…; Green & Côté 2009, Grubich et al 2009). Our objective was to facilitate a better understanding of the lionfish invasion and its potential threats to Atlantic coral reefs by compiling and analyzing data from multiple sources in order to document the distribution and abundance of the fish in their native range.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributions of Indo-Pacific lionfishes Pterois spp. in their native ranges: implications for the Atlantic invasion

Kulbicki¹,

Beets²,

Chabanet³

et al. 2012

123

115

Lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) have become a major concern in the western Atlantic and Caribbean since their introduction in the 1980s. Invasive lionfish can reach very high population densities on coral reefs in their invaded range, yet there are few data from their native range in the Indo-Pacific for comparison. We compiled data on the geographical distribution and density of Indo-Pacific lionfishes in their native ranges from published and unpublished underwater visual censuses and field collections. We found that lionfish in their native Indo-Pacific range are unevenly distributed, with higher densities in the Indian Ocean than in the Pacific. Lionfish densities increase significantly with increasing latitude, and are significantly higher in continental areas than around islands. In the Indo-Pacific, lionfishes are found not only on reefs but also on soft bottoms and in nearshore habitats such as seagrass beds and mangroves, and near estuaries. Native lionfish can be found at depths greater than 75 m. Because lionfish can be cryptic and secretive, we estimate that only ~1/8 of Indo-Pacific lionfishes are detected during general underwater visual censuses. In the Pacific Ocean, the relative abundance of lionfish in the catch of reef-fish larvae is of the same order of magnitude as the relative abundance of adult lionfish within reef fish assemblages. Overall the observed densities of lionfishes in the Indo-Pacific are much lower (max. 26.3 fish ha -1 ) than the densities reported in their invaded Atlantic range (max. 400 fish ha -1 ). We found no effects of fishing or pollution on the densities of lionfishes.