Rapid invasion of Indo-Pacific lionfishes Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and P. miles (Bennett, 1828) in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Gulf of Mexico, documented in multiple data sets

Michelle Johnston,Emma Hickerson,Marissa Nuttall,Ryan Eckert,George Schmahl,Travis Sterne,John Embesi

doi:10.3391/bir.2016.5.2.09

Abstract

Rapid invasion of Indo-Pacific lionfishes Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and P. miles (Bennett, 1828) in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Gulf of Mexico, documented in multiple data sets

Highlights

The invasion of Info-Pacific lionfishes Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and P. miles (Bennett, 1828) is a serious threat to fish communities and coral reefs in the western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico (Albins and Hixon 2008; Lesser and Slattery 2011; Green et al 2012; Cerino et al 2013)
In the LTM data, lionfish were documented for the first time in 2013 at East Flower Garden Bank (EFGB) (25% sighting frequency), West Flower Garden Bank (WFGB) (33.3% sighting frequency), and Stetson Bank (4.7% sighting frequency)
We documented the rapid invasion of lionfish at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) using LTM data from EFGB, WFGB, and Stetson Bank, sighting and removal data from FGBNMS scientific and volunteer divers, and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) data taken at depths ranging from 60–90 m

Summary

Introduction

The invasion of Info-Pacific lionfishes Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and P. miles (Bennett, 1828) (hereafter “lionfish” refers to both species) is a serious threat to fish communities and coral reefs in the western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico (Albins and Hixon 2008; Lesser and Slattery 2011; Green et al 2012; Cerino et al 2013). Invasive lionfishes can have significant impacts on biodiversity and the health of coral reefs by reducing the abundance and recruitment of native reef fishes and causing shifts from coral to algae-dominated reef communities (Albins and Hixon 2008; Albins and Hixon 2011; Lesser and Slattery 2011; Green et al 2012) After their introduction off the Florida coast in the 1980s, lionfish entered the southern Gulf of Mexico off the northern Yucatan Peninsula in 2009 via larval transport, expanding throughout the Gulf of Mexico in both shallow and deep waters (Schofield 2010; Aguilar-Perera and Tuz-Sulub 2010; Switzer et al 2015; Nuttall et al 2014). In July of 2011, lionfish were observed by FGBNMS divers on all three banks in the marine sanctuary (Schofield et al 2011) (Figure 2)

Methods

Results

Conclusion