Abstract
We recorded the first sighting and collection of the non-native, invasive red lionfish (Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758): Scorpaenidae) in the southern Gulf of Mexico, off the northern Yucatan Peninsula. In December 2009, two individuals were sighted (one of them speared) at 38 m depth over a reef formation, about 58 km northwest of the Alacranes Reef National Park, which is located 130 km off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. More than 20 years after the introduction of P. volitans into the western Atlantic, specifically off the Florida and North Carolina coasts, the invasion circuit now appears to be closing in, since this new record was made about 800 km from the Dry Tortugas and Marquesas, Florida. This recording appears to be the first introgression of the P. volitans population into the Gulf of Mexico via larval transport.
Highlights
Non-native organisms are frequently transported by human activities, and accidentally or purposely introduced into a given environment different to their original one
Accidental or deliberate introductions from aquaria are frequent (Semmens et al 2004). This latter vector appears to be the cause of the introduction of the red lionfish Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Indo-Pacific Ocean into the western Atlantic Ocean (Whitfield et al 2002, 2007; Ruiz-Carus et al 2006; Morris and Whitfield 2009)
During September 2009, we provided lionfish information pamphlets to a small group of local spear-fishers from Puerto Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico, with the aim of recommending them to report any sighting of P. volitans
Summary
Non-native organisms are frequently transported by human activities, and accidentally or purposely introduced into a given environment different to their original one. There are confirmed and unconfirmed (anecdotal) records of Pterois volitans in the Florida (USA) waters since 1980s, with first individuals captured in 1985, Whitfield et al (2002) officially reported the establishment of P. volitans off the North Carolina (USA) coast in 2000. The invasion of this fish throughout the region appears to be widespread. Some groupers (Mycteroperca tigris [Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1833], Epinephelus striatus [Bloch, 1792]) in the Bahamas were able to feed on P. volitans (Maljković et al 2008)
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