Spatial and temporal distribution of the invasive lionfishPterois volitansin coral reefs of Tayrona National Natural Park, Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

The lionfish Pterois volitans is an invasive species throughout the Western Atlantic that disturbs functioning of local ecosystems such as coral reefs via fast and intense consumption of small fish and invertebrates. In 2009, lionfish populated the bays of Tayrona National Natural Park (TNNP), a biodiversity hotspot in the Colombian Caribbean that is strongly influenced by changing environmental conditions due to a rainy and dry season. So far, the spatial and temporal distribution of P. volitans in the bays of TNNP is unknown. Therefore, this study assessed the abundance and body lengths of P. volitans during monthly surveys throughout the year 2012 in four bays (thereof two bays where lionfish removals were undertaken) of TNNP at 10 m water depth in coral reefs using transect tools. Findings revealed lionfish abundances of 2.9 ± 0.9 individuals ha−1 with lengths of 20–25 cm for TNNP, hinting to an established, mostly adult local population. Actual TNNP lionfish abundances are thereby very similar to those at Indo–Pacific reef locations where the invasive lionfish formerly originated from. Significant spatial differences for lionfish abundances and body lengths between different bays in TNNP suggest habitat preferences of P. volitans depending on age. Lionfish abundances were highly variable over time, but without significant differences between seasons. Removals could not reduce lionfish abundances significantly during the period of study. This study therefore recommends improved management actions in order to control the already established invasive lionfish population in TNNP.

Invasive lionfish had no measurable effect on prey fish community structure across the Belizean Barrier Reef

“…However our observed lionfish densities along the BBR are not atypical. In fact, lionfish densities in Belize are comparable to those reported on similar reef habitats in Mexico, Cuba (Bay of Pigs), The Bahamas (San Salvador and Abaco), Colombia, and Venezuela (Agudo & Salas, 2014; Valdivia et al, 2014; Bayraktarov et al, 2014; Anton, Simpson & Vu, 2014), and may be more representative of the Caribbean region than the often-cited densities of New Providence, Bahamas (Green & Côté, 2009) (Fig. 5).…”

“…Below the axis, grey boxes indicate number of years since the invasion at the time of the survey of invaded regions. Sources for lionfish density values include (Kulbicki et al, 2011; Agudo & Salas, 2014; Cure, McIlwain & Hixon, 2014; Valdivia et al, 2014; Bayraktarov et al, 2014; McTee & Grubich, 2014; Anton, Simpson & Vu, 2014). …”

Ongoing removals of invasive lionfish in Honduras and their effect on native Caribbean prey fishes

“…While there are currently no systematic studies of lionfish removal effectiveness across the invaded region, studies on lionfish control from a few specific locations report variable levels of density reduction. The reduction levels range from 2-fold reduction in biomass in Curacao and Bonaire and 10-fold reduction in density in Little Cayman to no significant reductions in Colombia ( Frazer et al, 2012 ; León et al, 2013 ; Bayraktarov et al, 2014 ). In all of these studies removals were conducted by trained volunteers of the community.…”

“…Importantly, financial resources limit the intensity and geographical scope of removal programmes. Effectiveness of targeted removals vary according to the degree of organisation of the removal program, the amount of people involved, and the frequency and continuity of fishing effort invested ( Bayraktarov et al, 2014 ). Maintaining regular removals over reasonably high spatial scales may therefore be more feasible in wealthy nations, or where effective cooperation among non-governmental organisations (NGOs), diving industry and national government exists.…”

Abundancia del pez león invasor Pterois volitans en los arrecifes de coral costeros del Caribe colombiano

“…Muñoz-Escobar y Gil-Agudelo, 2012;Pabón y Acero, 2015;Acero et al, 2019). Algunos estudios han estimado la abundancia del pez león en lugares específicos, como el PNN Tayrona y Santa Marta (Bayraktarov et al, 2014;Coronado-Carrascal et al, 2015;García-Urueña et al, 2015), y en la isla de San Andrés (González-Corredor et al, 2016), pero hasta la fecha, solo existe un trabajo publicado en el que se evaluaron lugares distantes (Rojas-Vélez et al, 2019). Hasta el momento, no hay estudios de la abundancia de esta especie con metodologías estandarizadas y en un número de localidades que permitan comparaciones en una escala espacial más amplia.…”