Invasive Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans reduce abundance and species richness of native Bahamian coral-reef fishes
Open accessAbstract
Pacific red lionfish Pterois volitans, introduced to Atlantic waters in the 1980s, represent a particularly successful invasive marine predator with strong effects on native prey.Previous experiments examining the effects of lionfish on native fish communities have been conducted on small patch reefs.However, the effects of lionfish on native reef-fish communities over larger spatial scales -scales at which conservation and management efforts are typically applied -have not been examined experimentally.Beginning in June 2009, I conducted a large-scale field experiment near Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas.Ten large (1400 to 4000 m 2 ) coral reefs were paired based on location and similarity of habitat, and baseline surveys of their fish communities were conducted.Quarterly removals of lionfish were then conducted on 1 reef in each pair, while the densities of lionfish on the other reefs were standardized at typical post-invasion levels.Through August 2010, quarterly surveys showed that lionfish caused significant changes in native reef-fish communities, including reductions in the total density (up to 46.3 ± 13.7%, mean ± SEM), biomass (31.9 ± 10.7%), and species richness (21.4 ± 9.1%) of prey-sized fishes (all individuals <10 cm total length).Lionfish also caused substantial reductions in the biomass of prey-sized herbivorous fishes (33.9 ± 16.0%) and piscivores (98.6 ± 39.5%).However, these negative effects on small fish did not translate to observable declines in a larger size-class (all individuals 10 to 20 cm total length) over the 14 mo study period.
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When lionfish densities were controlled on larger experimental patch reefs (0.16-0.40 hectares) over 14 months, the abundance of prey fish at sites with 300 lionfish ha−1 was roughly 40% lower than at sites with 30 lionfish ha−1.
“When lionfish densities were controlled on larger experimental patch reefs (0.16–0.40 hectares) and over a longer time period (14 months), the abundance of prey fish at sites with 300 lionfish ha−1 was roughly 40% lower than the abundance of prey fish at sites with 30 lionfish ha−1 10.”
From Invasive lionfish reduce native fish abundance on a regional scale (2016) · cites this paper as [10]
The Experimental design section describes reefs of approximately 1,400–4,000 m² (0.14–0.40 ha), and Treatment effectiveness reports mean lionfish densities equivalent to 30 and 300 per hectare. Density and biomass of native reef fishes reports roughly 40% lower density of small (<10 cm) fish on high-density reefs in the August 2009 and August 2010 surveys, but not a significant difference at other survey times. The claim omits that seasonal and size-class limitation and gives a slightly different lower bound for reef area. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- Albins, M.
- Affiliations
- Oregon State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Albins, MA
- Venue
- Marine Ecology Progress Series
- Publisher
- Inter-Research Science Center
- Published
- 2015-03-02
- Volume
- 522
- Pages
- 231-243
- ISSN
- 0171-8630 (ISSN-L)
- 1616-1599
- OpenAlex
- W2326965854
- Cited by
- 129
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 10.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Marine Ecology Progress Series (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0851162)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Keywords
- Pterois volitans, invasive species, coral reef fish, species richness, herbivorous fish, piscivorous fish, predator-prey interactions, reef fish biomass, Bahamas, large-scale field experiment
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