Foraging behaviour and prey consumption in the Indo-Pacific lionfish on Bahamian coral reefs

Abstract

Predicting and mitigating the effects of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans on Caribbean fish communities requires a thorough understanding of the species' predation behaviour in the invaded range, including the types and amounts of prey consumed and how foraging patterns vary in relation to extrinsic conditions. We studied the activity levels and prey consumption rates of lionfish on 12 shallow coral reefs in the Bahamas in relation to time of day and prey availability. Lionfish predation rates and activity levels were significantly higher during crepuscular (dawn and dusk) periods than at mid-day. Available prey fish biomass was highest at dawn but lower at mid-day and dusk, suggesting that lionfish predation activity is not limited by prey availability alone. Our calculated average daily mass-specific prey consumption rates, which incorporated daily variation, was 3 times the estimates obtained from studies of captive lionfish in their native range and of invasive lionfish observed only during the day. Our results will help to predict more accurately the effect of predation by invasive lionfish on native reef fish communities. KEY WORDS: Pterois volitans · Marine invasion · Predation rates · Daily pattern · Behavioural observations Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 433: 159-167, 2011 160 lionfish on Bahamian reefs have yielded estimates of prey consumption that far exceed anecdotal reports from the native range (Côté & Maljković 2010). If the rates at which invasive lionfish consume prey are highest during crepuscular periods, a question not examined by Côté & Maljković (2010), then lionfish prey consumption in their introduced range has been under estimated. In addition, a thorough understanding of the timing of lionfish foraging activity is important for the design of future diet studies so that sample collection may be conducted around times of high foraging activity.The objectives of this study were to document the foraging patterns, activity levels and prey consumption rates of lionfish, as well as their available prey, at different times of the day on invaded Bahamian coral reefs. We addressed 2 specific questions: (1) Are lionfish prey consumption rates and activity levels significantly higher during low-light (crepuscular) hours than during mid-day periods? (2) Do high predation rates and activity levels by lionfish coincide with periods of higher prey availability? Accurate estimates of massspecific prey consumption rates are important because they can be used to examine the effect of lionfish on native prey populations. However, the only available estimates of lionfish prey consumption derive from daytime-only estimates (Côté & Maljkovi 2010) and from bioenergetics studies of captive Pterois miles, the sister species of P. volitans in the Indian Ocean (Fishelson 1997). To illustrate the importance of incorporating daily variation in behaviour into estimates of prey consumption, we compared our own estimates of ...

Use of DNA metabarcoding for stomach content analysis in the invasive lionfish Pterois volitans in Puerto Rico

“…In contrast to other mobile predators (Appeldoorn et al 2009), lionfish do not typically undertake diurnal feeding migrations between different habitats. However, they have been observed to venture off-structure to feed over sand, perhaps in response to intraspecific competition (Green et al 2011, Dahl & Patterson 2014. In our study location, lionfish densities are relatively low (C. Harms-Tuohy pers.…”

“…Researchers have sought to address what lionfish consume, in terms of species and size classes, in an effort to document which species may suffer the greatest level of mortality. Feeding ecology has been a key component in many lionfish studies, resulting in our current understanding of site specificity in dietary preferences (Côté & Maljković 2010, Muñoz et al 2011, Layman & Allgeier 2012 and overall diversity of diet (Albins & Hixon 2008, Morris & Akins 2009, Green et al 2011.…”

Coping with the Lionfish Invasion: Can Targeted Removals Yield Beneficial Effects?

“…Surveys were conducted 1-2 hr prior to sunset at three sites subject to removals: Bus Stop (one removal), Mixing Bowl (three removals), and Blacktip Boulevard (seven removals), as well as at Rock Bottom (a control site not subject to lionfish removal). Such surveys should yield reliable estimates of relative densities, because lionfish are easy to identify, active during the hours just before dusk, and not prone to being attracted to or repelled by divers (Brock, 1954;Sale and Douglas, 1981;McCormick and Choat, 1987;Green et al, 2011). During surveys, one diver deployed a 50-m line, and two other divers made a single pass to count lionfish in 2-m wide transects on either side of this line.…”

A brief review of gears associated with lionfish removals

“…Lionfish's behavior is unique among apex predators. They lethargically hover close to some type of underwater structure [15,16]. When they attack, they stalk prey by maneuvering themselves slowly with their large pectoral fins extended to corral it before making a rapid strike [16].…”