Setting the record straight on invasive lionfish control: Culling works

Côté, Isabelle M.; Akins, Lad; Underwood, Elizabeth B.; Curtis-Quick, Jocelyn; Green, Stephanie

doi:10.7287/peerj.preprints.398v1

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The success of this invasive marine teleost has prompted many studies on its behaviour and effects of the invasion (Kimball et al 2004;Schofield 2010;Albins and Hixon 2011;Biggs and Olden 2011;Côté et al 2014;Anton et al 2016). These studies have highlighted the generalist nature of lionfish predatory feeding, indiscriminate habitat selection and diversion from their crepuscular feeding strategies (Cöté and Maljković 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting predatory impact of juvenile invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) on a crustacean prey using functional response analysis: effects of temperature, habitat complexity and light regimes

et al. 2017

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The ecological implications of biotic interactions, such as predator-prey relationships, are often context-dependent. Comparative functional responses analysis can be used under different abiotic contexts to improve understanding and prediction of the ecological impact of invasive species. Pterois volitans (Lionfish) [Linnaeus 1758] is an established invasive species in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, with a more recent invasion into the Mediterranean. Lionfish are generalist predators that impact a wide range of commercial and non-commercial species. Functional response analysis was employed to quantify interaction strength between lionfish and a generic prey species, the shrimp (Paleomonetes varians) [Leach 1814], under the contexts of differing temperature, habitat complexity and light wavelength. Lionfish have prey population destabilising Type II functional responses under all contexts examined. Significantly more prey were consumed at 26°C than at 22°C. Habitat complexity did not significantly alter the functional response parameters. Significantly more prey were consumed under white light and blue light than under red light. Attack rate was significantly higher under white light than under blue or red light. Light wavelength did not significantly change handling times. The impacts on prey populations through feeding rates may increase with concomitant temperature increase. As attack rates are very high at low habitat complexity this may elucidate the cause of high impact upon degraded reef ecosystems with lowdensity prey populations, although there was little protection conferred through habitat complexity. Only red light (i.e. dark) afforded any reduction in predation pressure. Management initiatives should account for these environmental factors when planning mitigation and prevention strategies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting predatory impact of juvenile invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) on a crustacean prey using functional response analysis: effects of temperature, habitat complexity and light regimes

et al. 2017

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“…Determining the feasibility of such initiatives requires modeling the change in biomass in response to changes in fishing mortality (i.e., culling). A common way to model this is via length-structured population models, where fish lengths are converted to weight to calculate total biomass (Barbour et al, 2011; Côté et al, 2014; Andradi-Brown et al, 2017). The allometric length-weight relationship is thus an essential component of these models, but this relationship can vary across regions as a response to biotic and abiotic conditions (Johnson & Swenarton, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Outcomes of previous studies suggest lionfish are likely to exhibit spatial heterogeneity in the length-weight relationship for both behavioral and biological reasons. Important life history characteristics such as growth or natural mortality rates are often spatially variable for fish that exhibit sedentary behavior (Gunderson et al, 2008; Hutchinson, 2008; Wilson et al, 2012; Guan et al, 2013), and in fact, high levels of site fidelity and small home ranges are two primary reasons why culling programs are effective in reducing local adult lionfish populations (Fishelson, 1997; Kochzius & Blohm, 2005; Jud & Layman, 2012; Côté et al, 2014). Genetic analysis of lionfish also identified two genetically distinct invasive subpopulations between the Western Atlantic and the Caribbean, suggesting the existence of spatially explicit biological differences between populations as well (Betancur-R et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variation in allometric growth of invasive lionfish has management implications

Villaseñor-Derbez

Fitzgerald

2019

PeerJ

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Lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) are an invasive species in the Western Atlantic and the Caribbean. Improving management of invasive lionfish populations requires accurate total biomass estimates, which depend on accurate estimates of allometric growth; sedentary species like lionfish often exhibit high levels of spatial variation in life history characteristics. We reviewed 17 published length-weight relationships for lionfish taken throughout their invasive range and found regional differences that led to significant misestimates when calculating weight from length observations. The spatial pattern we observed is consistent with findings from other studies focused on genetics or length-at-age. Here, the use of ex situ parameter values resulted in total biomass estimates between 76.2% and 140% of true observed biomass, and up to a threefold under- or overestimation of total weight for an individual organism. These findings can have implications for management in terms of predicting effects on local ecosystems, evaluating the effectiveness of removal programs, or estimating biomass available for harvest.

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“…These types of removal efforts have proven effective in reducing lionfish abundance from various locations in the Caribbean [9,20,23,24]. For example, a study that compared fished and unfished areas of Bonaire over a two year period (2009)(2010)(2011) found that lionfish biomass in fished locations on Bonaire was 2.76-fold lower than in unfished areas from the same island [23].…”

Section: Sift Deskmentioning

confidence: 99%

A brief review of gears associated with lionfish removals

Farquhar¹

2017

SDRP-JAFFS

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Invasive lionfish (Pterois miles and Pterois volitans ) continue to thrive in the western Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and most recently the Mediterranian . Their success has been attributed to their environmental tolerance, broad appetite, high fecundity, prey naivety, and lack of predators. However, lionfish populations have been shown to be successfully managed through their removal with the most common method being spearfishing. However, this method is limited to areas that are easily accessible to divers, thus largely ineffective as a large-scale fishery. Yet, there has been other accounts of lionfish being successfully captured with other fishing gears. This study compiled sources from scholarly journals, press releases, and nonprofit scientific organizations and searched for methods used to successfully remove lionfish within the invaded area. Results show that the most popular removal method was spearing (45%) followed by handnet (37%). The remaining removal gears were fish trap (5%), hook and line (5%), trawl (3%), lobster trap (2%), and other (1%). This review illuminates other lesser known methods successfully used to remove lionfish with hopes to evoke new management options to combat the future of the lionfish invasion.

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Setting the record straight on invasive lionfish control: Culling works

Cited by 17 publications

References 21 publications

Predicting predatory impact of juvenile invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) on a crustacean prey using functional response analysis: effects of temperature, habitat complexity and light regimes

Predicting predatory impact of juvenile invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) on a crustacean prey using functional response analysis: effects of temperature, habitat complexity and light regimes

Spatial variation in allometric growth of invasive lionfish has management implications

A brief review of gears associated with lionfish removals

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