Effects of invasive Pacific red lionfish Pterois volitans versus a native predator on Bahamian coral-reef fish communities

• Published in: Biological invasions Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 29 - 43
• Main Author: Albins, Mark A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.01.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Bahamas; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Caribbean; Cephalopholis; Cephalopholis fulva; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Coral reefs; Developmental Biology; Ecological effects; Ecology; Environmental impact; field experimentation; Fish; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; grouper; Indigenous species; Invasive fish; Life Sciences; Nonnative species; Original Paper; Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking; Plant Sciences; Predation; Predators; Pterois volitans; Sea water ecosystems; species diversity; Species richness; Synecology; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; Bahamas; I, Pacific; ASW, Caribbean Sea, Bahamas; A, Atlantic; Caribbean; Coral reefs; Community structure; Piscivory; Invasive species; Predation; Marine fishes; Biological invasion; Coral reef; Marine environment; Piscivorous; Vertebrata; Animal community; Pisces; Reef animal; Predator; Environmental monitoring; Teleostei; Native species; Osteichthyes; Environmental protection
• ISSN: 1387-3547; 1573-1464
• DOI: 10.1007/s10530-012-0266-1

The recent irruption of Pacific red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ) on Caribbean and Atlantic coral reefs could prove to be one of the most damaging marine invasions to date. Invasive lionfish are reaching densities much higher than those reported from their native range, and they have a strong negative effect on the recruitment and abundance of a broad diversity of native coral-reef fishes. Otherwise, little is known about how lionfish affect native coral-reef communities, especially compared to ecologically similar native predators. A controlled field experiment conducted on small patch-reefs in the Bahamas over an 8-week-period demonstrated that (1) lionfish caused a reduction in the abundance of small native coral-reef fishes that was 2.5 ± 0.5 times (mean ± SEM) greater than that caused by a similarly sized native piscivore, the coney grouper Cephalopholis fulva (93.7 vs. 36.3 % reduction); (2) lionfish caused a reduction in the species richness of small coral-reef fishes (loss of 4.6 ± 1.6 species), whereas the native piscivore did not have a significant effect on prey richness; (3) the greatest effects on the reef-fish community, in terms of both abundance and richness, occurred when both native and invasive predators were present; and (4) lionfish grew significantly faster (>6 times) than the native predator under the same field conditions. These results suggest that invasive lionfish have stronger ecological effects than similarly sized native piscivores, and may pose a substantial threat to native coral-reef fish communities.