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Invasive lionfish dispersal between shallow- and deep-water habitats within coastal Floridian waters

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Abstract

Invasive lionfish threaten native fishes and ecosystem health in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean. Controlling their spread and population growth can be difficult given their early maturity, high fecundity, a long larval dispersal period, and preference for structure. Mitigation efforts are further complicated by the existence of large and numerous deep water refugia. Despite the potential importance of these refugia, their connection with shallow water populations and their role in recruiting pelagic larvae is poorly understood. We examined the post-settlement dispersal patterns of invasive lionfish using otolith δ13C and δ18O stable isotope analysis and Bayesian stock mixture analysis. We find that there is settlement within both deep- and shallow-water habitats. It is estimated that 34.5% of the shallow-water population is composed of individuals that moved from deep-water habitat and into these shallow regions post-settlement. Only 4.1% of the deep-water population is composed of individuals that settled in shallow-water habitat before dispersing. These results demonstrate a link between deep and shallow habitats within the coastal waters of Florida, with the flow of individuals from deep to shallow water being the predominate dispersal direction of post-settlement individuals. We suggest that post-settlement dispersal can contribute to the invasion of new habitat and potentially hinder shallow-water removal efforts in currently colonized areas.

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Data availability

The data for this study are available via the Zenodo digital repository: (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7015879).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Rachel Bowman for her guidance and help in procuring samples. We also would like to thank the multiple dive shops and spearfishes that donated carcasses to our research. We thank Nicolas Locatelli for assistance in the field and support throughout the duration of this project. We give our thanks to all those that contributed to the Experiment.com fundraising effort. Lastly, we thank the reviewers for their time and for their thoughtful review of our paper.

Funding

This work was supported by the Columbia University E3B MA Student Research Grant, the Columbia University Matching Grant, the Columbia University Earth Institute Travel Grant, and support from Experiment.com.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

    Montana E. Airey

  2. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Montana E. Airey

  3. Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners, Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Fort Walton Beach, FL, 32548, USA

    Alexander Q. Fogg

  4. Department of Environmental Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Joshua A. Drew

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  1. Montana E. Airey
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  2. Alexander Q. Fogg
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MEA and JAD conceived the ideas and designed methodology; MEA and AQF collected the data; MEA analyzed the data; MEA led the writing of the manuscript. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.

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Correspondence to Montana E. Airey.

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Airey, M.E., Fogg, A.Q. & Drew, J.A. Invasive lionfish dispersal between shallow- and deep-water habitats within coastal Floridian waters. Biol Invasions 25, 3983–3991 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03153-w

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