Abstract
Age, growth parameters and food of Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) Red lionfish were studied. A total of 254 lion fishes (P. volitans and Pterois miles) were collected from commercial drift net, angling fisheries and diving with hand net southern coast of the Iskenderun Bay between March 2018 and March 2019. 29.53% of sample was P. volitans. Age was determined by reading whole sagittal otoliths. Fish ranged from 14.2 to 35.3 cm in total length, which corresponded to fish between 1 to 7 years old. The sex ratio (1:1.07) was biased toward males (P<0.05). The length–weight relationships were W=0,0042×L3.3514 (R²=0,92) and W=0,0108×L3.0423 (R²=0,94) for females and males, respectively. Growth parameters were estimated using the standard von Bertalanffy growth model (K=0.1507, 64, L∞=47.58 cm and to =-2.0506 for combined sexes. The diet was composed of fishes and crustaceans.
Highlights
Invasive species are a major threat to global biodiversity for ecosystem health (Carlton and Geller 1993; Ruiz et al 1997)
Two species were evaluated together as P. volitans/miles complex, while in some studies two species were identified as Pterois spp
In species discriminated studies, P. miles has been studied in few studies and P. volitans has been studied mostly (Dağhan and Demirhan, 2020 inpress)
Summary
Invasive species are a major threat to global biodiversity for ecosystem health (Carlton and Geller 1993; Ruiz et al 1997). The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 was the most important factor leading to an increase in the inflow of Indo-Pacific invasive species into the Mediterranean. With the opening of this channel, alien species began to enter the Mediterranean intensively and in time, the entry of these alien species was described as invasion (Öztürk and Turan, 2012). Studies on lion fish have increased steadily over the last 10 years and are generally related to their geographical distribution (Dağhan and Demirhan, 2020 inpress). P. volitans in the Gulf of Iskenderun for the first time the
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