2/24/2023 0 Comments Fish in the trap sub indo![]() ![]() Once introduced, their growth rate, high fecundity, generalist foraging habits and lack of predators led to their rapid spread 5, 6, 7. The lionfish invasion is thought to be the result of multiple lionfish release events that occurred via the aquarium trade during the late 1980s and early 1990s 3, 4. volitans), both collectively referred to as lionfish in this study, are generalist piscivores that have invaded Atlantic waters off of the southeastern United States (hereafter abbreviated as SEUS), the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean 1, 2. The devil firefish ( Pterois miles) and the red lionfish ( P. Consequently, the effect of lionfish on native fish abundance will likely continue for the foreseeable future. Barring the development of a control strategy that reverses the lionfish invasion, the abundance of lionfish in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico will likely remain at or above current levels. Tomtate served as a model native fish species in our analysis and as such, it is likely that the lionfish invasion has had similar impacts on other species, some of which may be of economic importance. Our results suggest that 1) lionfish-impacted areas off of the southeastern United States are most prevalent off-shore near the continental shelf-break but are also common near-shore and 2) in impacted areas, lionfish have reduced tomtate (a native forage fish) abundance by 45% since the invasion began. Here, we employ a spatially replicated Before-After-Control-Impact analysis with temporal pairing to quantify for the first time the impact of the lionfish invasion on native fish abundance across a broad regional scale and over the entire duration of the lionfish invasion (1990–2014). ![]() Invasive lionfish pose an unprecedented threat to biodiversity and fisheries throughout Atlantic waters off of the southeastern United States, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. ![]()
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