Geographic extent and chronology of the invasion of non-native lionfish (Pterois volitans (Linnaeus 1758) and P. miles (Bennett 1828)) in the Western North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea

By P. Schofield. 2009

285 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The Indo-Pacific lionfishes (Pterois volitans [Linnaeus 1758] and P. miles [Bennett 1828]: Family Scorpaenidae) are the first non-native marine fishes to establish in the Western North Atlantic. The chronology of the invasion is reported here using records from the US Geological Survey’s Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database. Currently, lionfish are established off the Atlantic coast of the USA from the Florida Keys to Cape Hatteras (North Carolina), the Great Antilles, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos. The species have been reported from only one island in the Lesser Antilles (St. Croix), but it is not yet established there. Lionfish are established in Mexico, Honduras and Costa Rica. Reports have come from the Gulf of Mexico (Florida), Belize, Panama and Colombia; although lionfish are not considered established in these localities at this time (August 2009), invasion is likely imminent.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Paleontology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a8d7232c54c8af9ebc24c047f2302cb6412539dc

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Citations in the corpus

Worst case scenario: potential long-term effects of invasive predatory lionfish (Pterois volitans) on Atlantic and Caribbean coral-reef communities (2011, background): “…two decades and especially since 2005, the range of P. volitans has expanded rapidly across a substantial portion of the tropical and sub-tropical Western Atlantic and Caribbean (Schofield 2009), with the highest densities currently reported from coral reefs in the Bahamas (Green and Côté 2009).”
Diet richness of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish revealed by DNA barcoding (2013, background): “This is very similar to the 34 prey fish species identified by barcoding from the stomach contents of 144 lionfish from Cozumel, Mexico (Valdez-Moreno et al. 2012).”
Effects of invasive Pacific red lionfish Pterois volitans versus a native predator on Bahamian coral-reef fish communities (2012, background): “Since the early 2000s, their range has expanded rapidly throughout the tropical and sub-tropical Western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea (Schofield 2009, 2010).”
Site fidelity and movement patterns of invasive lionfish, Pterois spp., in a Florida estuary (2012, background): “The Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans and Pterois miles (morphologically indistinguishable species, hereafter referred to as lionfish) have spread rapidly throughout the western Atlantic and Caribbean (Freshwater et al., 2009; Hamner et al., 2007; Schofield, 2009; Whitfield et al., 2002).”
Indo-Pacific lionfish are larger and more abundant on invaded reefs: a comparison of Kenyan and Bahamian lionfish populations (2011, background): “An invasion is currently unfolding across shallowwater habitats of the northwest Atlantic and Caribbean region.”
Larval duration of the lionfish, Pterois volitans along the Bahamian Archipelago (2010, background): “The larval duration period reported in this study provides ample time for long distance dispersal, a trait exhibited by the broad geographic range of non-native lionfish (Morris and Whitfield 2009; Schofield 2009 ).”
Update on geographic spread of invasive lionfishes (Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and P. miles (Bennett, 1828)) in the Western North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico (2010, background): “See Schofield (2009) for details of lionfish establishment in these regions, which include: Atlantic Coast of Mainland USA (Miami, Florida to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina) Bermuda Islands Commonwealth of the Bahamas Turks and Caicos Islands Cayman Islands Republic of Cuba Jamaica Dominican Republic”
Recent invasion of a Florida (USA) estuarine system by lionfish Pterois volitans / P. miles. (2011, background): “…lionfish in the western Atlantic and Carib bean has been well documented (Whitfield et al. 2002, Hamner et al. 2007, Freshwater et al. 2009, Schofield 2009), with the invasion considered 1 of the top 15 emerging environmental issues at a global scale (Suther land et © Inter-Research 2011 ·…”
Characterizing trophic ecology of generalist consumers: a case study of the invasive lionfish in The Bahamas (2012, background): “The invasive lionfish Pterois volitans/miles (hereinafter called lionfish) has spread throughout the Western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico (Whitfield et al. 2002, Schofield 2009, Mumby et al. 2011).”
Reconstructing the lionfish invasion: insights into Greater Caribbean biogeography (2011, methodology): “In addition, Morris & Akins (2009) and Schofield (2009) argued that the first documented lionfish report by a Lobster fisherman off Dania, Florida, pre-dates Hurricane Andrew by seven years (specimen preserved by the USGS-NAS, ID no. 261964).”
Effectiveness of lionfish removal efforts in the Southern Caribbean (2013, background): “From there, they first spread northward along the east coast of the USA and since 2004 also southward toward the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of South America (Schofield 2009, 2010, Johnston & Purkis 2011, Frazer et al. 2012).”
The Presence of the invasive Lionfish Pterois miles in the Mediterranean Sea (2013, background): “This resulted in a progressive and spectacular invasion of theeastern coasts of the United States and the Caribbean (reviewed by Schofield, 2009).”
Coping with the Lionfish Invasion: Can Targeted Removals Yield Beneficial Effects? (2012, background): “A rapid expansion through the Caribbean followed, with reports from Bermuda in 2000 (Whitfield et al., 2002), the Bahamas in 2004 (Snyder and Burgess, 2006), Cuba in 2005, and the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2006 (Schofield, 2009).”
Progression of invasive lionfish in seagrass, mangrove and reef habitats. (2012, background): “…1976), in their invasive range lionfish are known to use a wider variety of habitats that include reefs (Albins & Hixon 2008, Green & Côté 2009, Schofield 2009), seagrass (Meister et al. 2005, Claydon et al. 2009, Albins & Hixon in press), and mangroves (Mor- © Inter-Research 2012 ·…”
Predatory fish invaders: Insights from Indo-Pacific lionfish in the western Atlantic and Caribbean (2013, background): “The same year, lionfish were first seen on Bahamian coral reefs (Schofield, 2009), at which point the invasion front rapidly proceeded eastward and then southward.”
Comparative behavior of red lionfish Pterois volitans on native Pacific versus invaded Atlantic coral reefs. (2012, background): “Invasive lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004 and in the Caymans in 2008 (Schofield 2009).”
Invasive Species: to eat or not to eat, that is the question (2012, background): “Lionfish have been released from aquaria along the Florida coast, and in the last 20 years, they have become a problematic species whose nonnative range has now expanded drastically, extending from the Florida Atlantic coast to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea (Schofield 2009).”