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Abundance estimates of the Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans/miles complex in the Western North Atlantic

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An Erratum to this article was published on 06 February 2007

Abstract

Less than a decade after being observed off Florida, the invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish is now widely distributed off the southeast coast of the United States. As a step towards measuring invasion impacts to native communities, we examine the magnitude and extent of this invasion by first, compiling reports of lionfish to provide range information and second, estimate lionfish abundance from two separate studies. We also estimate native grouper (epinepheline serranids) abundance to better assess and compare lionfish abundances. In the first study we conducted SCUBA diver visual transect surveys at 17 different locations off the North Carolina coast in water depths of 35–50 m. In the second study, we conducted 27 Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) transect surveys at five locations from Florida to North Carolina in water depths of 50–100 m. In both studies, lionfish were found to be second in abundance only to scamp (Mycteroperca phenax). Lionfish were found in higher abundance in the shallower North Carolina SCUBA surveys (\(\bar{x}= 21.2\) ha−1) than in the deep water ROV surveys (\(\bar{x} = 5.2\) ha−1). Lionfish reports continue to expand most recently into the Bahamas, raising the specter of further spread into the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The potential impacts of lionfish to native communities are likely to be through direct predation, competition and overcrowding. The high number of lionfish present in the ecosystem increases the potential for cascading impacts throughout the food chain. Within the southeast region the combined effects of climate change, overfishing and invasive species may have irreversible consequences to native communities in this region.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded in part by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington pursuant to NOAA award number NA030AR4300088. Funding was also provided by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. The authors would especially like to thank NURC-UNCW for the operational and dive support provided during the August 2004 surveys. From NURC-UNCW, we thank D. Kesling, G. Taylor, J. Styron, T. Potts, L. Horn and A. Shepard. The South Atlantic MPA research was funded by the Panama City Laboratory of the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service. Highly skilled ROV piloting was provided by L. Horn of NURC-UNCW. Earlier versions of the manuscript were improved by M. Fonseca, E. Williams, M. Burton, R. Cowen and P. Marraro and especially by J. Drake. We also thank W. Freshwater and B. Hamner for sharing data on lionfish genetics.

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  1. Jonathan A. Hare

    Present address: NOAA NMFS NEFSC, Narragansett Laboratory, 28 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI, 02882, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NOAA Beaufort Laboratory, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA

    Paula E. Whitfield, Jonathan A. Hare, Roldan C. Muñoz & Christine M. Addison

  2. NOAA NMFS SEFSC, Panama City Laboratory, 3500 Delwood Beach Road, Panama City, Fl, 32408, USA

    Andrew W. David & Stacey L. Harter

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  1. Paula E. Whitfield
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Correspondence to Paula E. Whitfield.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-006-9063-z

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Whitfield, P.E., Hare, J.A., David, A.W. et al. Abundance estimates of the Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans/miles complex in the Western North Atlantic. Biol Invasions 9, 53–64 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-006-9005-9

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