Lionfish Threatens Caribbean Coral Reefs

Lionfish Threatens Caribbean Coral Reefs

The Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI) says the lionfish, an invasive marine species, has spread rapidly across Caribbean, seriously threatening coral reefs.

“Because of their role in upsetting the ecological balance of coral reef ecosystems, the rapid growth in the populations of these fish poses a grave threat to the region’s coral reefs,” WRI said.

“Consequently, the region’s fishing and tourism industries, which depend on coral reefs, may also be at risk,” it added, stating that governments across the region are trying to respond to the lionfish invasion by developing new campaigns and cooperation strategies that could pose important lessons for how to deal with invasive marine species in the future.

WRI said two species of lionfish, Pterois volitans and P. Miles, are responsible for this recent and growing threat to Atlantic and Caribbean reefs. Native to the Indo-Pacific, these species’ colorful and dramatic appearance make them popular ornamental fishes in saltwater aquariums.

Though no one is certain how or when the lionfish invasion began, WRI said strong evidence suggests that people first introduced lionfish to the Atlantic along the southeastern coast of Florida, where they were first sighted in 1985.

By 2001, WRI said people reported sightings in waters off the coasts of Georgia, the Carolinas, and Bermuda.

With venomous spines, WRI said lionfish has few natural predators in their native habitat and no native predators in the Atlantic and Caribbean region. It said they are voracious hunters, known to consume more than 50 other species of fish in the region.

WRI also said they multiply quickly, noting that a single female spawns more than two million eggs per year. In addition, WRI said they can live in multiple coastal habitats, including coral reefs and mangroves, and at depths ranging from close to shore to more than 300 meters.

WRI said an unchecked lionfish invasion, on top of other threats, such as overfishing, “could possibly lead to irreversible changes to Caribbean reef ecosystems, including further reductions in forage (prey) fish species, competition with predator fish species, and increased algal growth and degradation of reefs due to the reduction in herbivorous fish.

WRI also warned that Lionfish could even impact the Caribbean’s US$2.1 billion dive tourism industry, as they have the potential to greatly reduce the diversity and attraction of the reef ecosystem.