Age and growth of invasive lionfish (Pterois spp.) in the Caribbean Sea, with implications for management
Abstract
Removal efforts designed to avoid or minimize impacts from introduced lionfish, Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), in the western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico will be improved by reliable life history information applicable to the invaded range. For example, length at age has been modeled for lionfish from temperate North Carolina, but parameters characterizing growth are likely to differ in the tropics. Using Pterois spp. from Little Cayman, we validated formation of annual increments and daily rings in sagittal otoliths; documented ages; and estimated parameters for a length-weight relationship, multiple von Bertalanffy growth models, and an asymptotic vulnerability schedule. Formation of annuli was confirmed with marginal increment analysis, and daily ring deposition in juveniles was confirmed using an oxytetracycline hydrochloride marker. Total weight (g) estimated from combined data for both sexes was equal to 0.000003 × total length (mm)3.24. Logistic regression indicated that 50% of lionfish were vulnerable to removal at 129 mm total length. Sagittal otoliths (n = 499) from lionfish collected weekly between January and December 2011 indicated that males were 0-5 yrs old and females were 0-3 yrs old. A maximum likelihood approach to fitting von Bertalanffy equations estimated K and L 8 as 0.42 and 349 mm for the population, 0.38 and 382 mm for males, and 0.57 and 286 mm for females. An age-structured population mode…
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From age data gathered in a parallel study at Little Cayman Island, lionfish of 190 mm TL were between 0 and 2 years old.
“From age data gathered in a parallel study at Little Cayman Island, lionfish of 190 mm TL were between 0 and 2 years old (Edwards et al., 2014)”
From Reproductive biology of invasive lionfish (Pterois spp.) (2015) · cites this paper as Edwards et al., 2014
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“Earlier research reported a maximum age range of lionfish from 4.5—9 y in the Western Atlantic (Barbour et al. 2011, Edwards et al. 2014, Dahl et al. 2019, Eddy et al. 2019, Fogg et al. 2019), while our study found a maximum age of 10 y. Fogg et al. (2019) argued that truncated age structure (i.e.,…”
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“Lionfish in their invasive range have been observed to reach up to 10 years old, though the average age of a lionfish population at a particular reef varies site to site with some regions averaging from 2 to 4 years (Blakeway et al. 2022; Edwards et al. 2014).”
- Authors
- Edwards, M. A., Frazer, T. K., & Jacoby, C. A.
- Venue
- Bulletin of Marine Science
- Publisher
- Bulletin of Marine Science
- Published
- 2014-10-01
- Volume
- 90
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 953-966
- ISSN
- 0007-4977 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2043569920
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 5.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Bulletin of Marine Science (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund
- Disney Conservation Fund
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Fish Biology and Ecology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine and fisheries research
- Keywords
- invasive lionfish, Pterois volitans, Pterois miles, age and growth, sagittal otoliths, otolith annuli, length-weight relationship, von Bertalanffy growth, recruitment overfishing, Caribbean Sea, Little Cayman, introduced species
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