No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles complex) has become widely established along the United States Southeast coast and continues to colonize the Caribbean, yet its biology and ecology is only beginning to be understood. We used stomach contents and stable isotope analyses to determine the diet of lionfish in the warm-temperate hard bottom reef community in the Southeast US Atlantic Ocean. During June to August 2004 and 2006, we collected lionfish with SCUBA from 18 different locations in Onslow Bay, North Carolina, at depths of 30 to 45 m. In 2006, we also conducted visual surveys of small benthic fishes to estimate the abundances of potential prey. Analyses of stomach contents (n = 183) and stable isotopes (n = 115) suggest a generalist carnivorous diet, and prey categories were predominately fish (~99% of total volume) from 16 families. Major differences in the importance of prey occurred between years. Serranidae and Scaridae dominated the diet in 2004, while Haemulidae and Carangidae were important in 2006. Analyses of visual prey surveys did not reveal specialization on particular prey taxa but instead suggest that prey are consumed in relation to their local abundance. Given current theory pertaining to invasive species impacts, the expanding lionfish distribution, and observations that lionfish appear capable of settling to many different habitat types, the overall pattern of generalist piscivory emerging from these data indicates the potential for significant impacts to the invaded community.KEY WORDS: Marine invasion · Rocky reef · Scorpaenidae · Warm temperate · Continental shelf · Piscivory · Diet · Prey Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 432: [181][182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193] 2011 Along the United States Southeast Atlantic coast, and in Bermuda and the Bahamas, red lionfish Pterois volitans and devil firefish P. miles are now established and are continuing to expand their range in the Caribbean , Schofield 2009). These 2 species are nearly morphologically identical and 93% of specimens sampled from the Atlantic as well as North Carolina were P. volitans (Hamner et al. 2007), so hereafter we refer to invasive specimens collectively as lionfish or P. volitans. Native to the subtropical and tropical regions of the South Pacific, Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea, lionfish are venomous predators whose popularity in the aquarium trade may have contributed to their introduction to Atlantic waters (Whitfield et al. 2002, Semmens et al. 2004, Ruiz-Carus et al. 2006. Classified as demersal mesocarnivores together with groupers (Serranidae) and snappers (Lutjanidae) (Caillet et al. 1986), lionfish are believed to be opportunistic predators that consume fish, shrimp, and crabs in their native range (Hiatt & Strasburg 1960, Harmelin-Vivien & Bouchon 1976, Sano et al. 1984. However, until their recent invasion of the Atlantic and Caribbean, their biology and ecology were poorly understood bey...

Lionfish (Scorpaenidae, Pteroinae) are venomous predatory fish that are native to the IndoPacific region and have recently become established in the western Atlantic Ocean. Since the invasion was first documented in 2000, the number of lionfish in the Atlantic has increased substantially and spurred a series of investigations regarding their biology and potential impacts on the ecosystem. The present study uses haplotypes from the mitochondria-encoded cytochrome b (cyt b) locus to determine the number of lionfish species involved in the Atlantic invasion and the decrease in genetic diversity that accompanied the invasion. The cyt b data reveal that Pterois volitans along with a small number of Pterois miles are present in the Atlantic Ocean and that a strong founder effect has resulted in a large decrease in genetic diversity compared with native lionfish populations.

No abstract

Unusually dense aggregations of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus overgrazed at least 0.81 kmz of seagrass habitat in Outer Florida Bay (USA) between August 1997 and I\,Iay 1998. Initially, sea-urchin densities were as high as 364 sea urchins m-', but they steadily declined to within a range of 20 to 50 sea urchins m-2 by December 1998. Prior to this event, sea-urchin densities were <1 sea urchin m-2 in this area of Outer Florida Bay. Seagrasses in Outer Florida Bay consist primarily of manatee grass Syringodium filiforme. of which 82% or 390 g dry weight rn-2 of total seagrass biornass and >95% of the short-shoot apical menstems were removed by sea-urchin grazing in our study area. Such extensive loss may severely limit recovery of this seagrass comrnunity by vegetative reproduction. Effects of the removal of seagrass biomass have already resulted in the depletion of epifaunal-infaunal mollusk assemblages and resuspension of fine-grained (<64 pm) surface sediments-which have caused significant changes in cornrnunity structure and in the physical properties of the Sediments. These changes, coupled with the loss of essential fishery habitat, reductions in primary and secondary production, and degradation of water quality, may lead to additional, longer-term, indirect effects that may extend beyond the boundaries of the grazed areas and into adjacent coastal ecosystems.

No abstract