Lionfish Diet Composition at Three Study Sites in the Aegean Sea: An Invasive Generalist?

Abstract

The diet of the lionfish (Pterois miles), an invasive species in the Aegean Sea, was examined by collecting stomach content data from fish collected in three study sites in the Aegean Sea (southern Crete, Kastellorizo, and Nysiros islands). Prey composition in terms of numerical abundance and frequency of occurrence was used to compare lionfish’s diet between these sites. Lionfish largely preyed upon teleosts (4% to 83% numerical abundance and 16% to 58% frequency of occurrence, depending on the site) and decapods (12% to 95% numerical abundance and 11% to 81% frequency of occurrence). The most important teleost families in lionfish’s diet were Gobiidae, Labridae, and Scorpaenidae, while decapods and especially the family Scyllaridae and the genus Plesionika were the dominant decapod prey items. The lionfish was found to be an especially successful generalist across the study sites, an opportunistic, predatory species overall, and at the same time, at a local level, it seems to be an equally successful specialist that could increase the predation mortality of already stressed prey populations and can be a serious threat to endemic, critically endangered, and/or commercially important species.

Exploring the Structure of Static Net Fisheries in a Highly Invaded Region: The Case of Rhodes Island (Eastern Mediterranean)

“…The establishment and buildup of large populations of P. miles within the period 2015-2022 in the Rhodian marine waters has undeniably led to the alteration of the composition of the catches and, by extension, the synthesis of the biocommunities. Pterois miles successfully gained the first, second and third places in terms of biomass, abundance and frequency of occurrence, respectively, due to its successful competition for niches and its generalist feeding strategy [91].…”

The Devil Firefish Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828): Life History Traits of a Potential Fishing Resource in Rhodes (Eastern Mediterranean)

“…A number of characteristics, including early maturation and reproduction, antipredatory venomous defenses, and ecological adaptability of the devil firefish, combined with the absence of adaptive responses on behalf of the prey that encounters a new predator and the overfishing of regional predators, contribute to the spectacular success of its establishment in the invaded areas [51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. Undoubtedly, the species is a unique opportunistic predator and a generalist carnivore that may consume a wide range of fish and crustaceans, in consumption rates that can substantially surpass the rates of prey production [17,49,53,[58][59][60][61][62]. On the other hand, rather few predators of the devil firefish have been recorded within the Mediterranean Sea.…”