Biological invasion of the Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans along the Atlantic coast of North America

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-19-2002

Publication Title

Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS)

DOI

10.3354/meps235289

ISSN

1616-1599

Abstract

The occurrence of lionfish Pterois volitans is reported from the western Atlantic Ocean. Adults were collected off the coasts of North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and juveniles were collected along the shore of Long Island, New York. They have also been found around Bermuda. Lionfish are indigenous to tropical waters of the western Pacific and their occurrence along the east coast of the United States represents a human-induced introduction. Distribution of adults suggests lionfish are surviving in the western Atlantic and capture of juveniles provides putative evidence of reproduction. The most likely pathway of introduction is aquarium releases, but introduction via ballast water cannot be ruled out. The ecosystem of the southeastern United States continental shelf is already undergoing change: reef fish communities are becoming more tropical and many fish species are overfished. These ongoing changes, along with limited information regarding the biology of P. volitans, make predictions of long-term effects of the introduction difficult. This discovery represents the first, apparently successful introduction, of a marine fish from the western Pacific to Atlantic coastal waters of the United States

Comments

Inter-Research Science Center makes the archives of its journals available as a service to the scientific community. All articles published more than 5 years ago may be accessed freely.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS