Pterois volitans and Pterois miles, two sub-species of lionfish, have become the first non-native, invasive marine fish established along the United States Atlantic coast and Caribbean. The route and timing of the invasion is poorly understood, however historical sightings and captures have been robustly documented since their introduction. Herein we analyze these records based on spatial locat...

Field and laboratory observations of feeding by invasive Pacific red lionfish Pterois volitans were conducted during June through August of 2008, 2009 and 2010 near Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas. Observations of this invasive marine predator revealed a previously undocumented piscivorous behavior. While slowly approaching prey fish, lionfish produce jets of water directed toward their prey. Thes...

The Indo-Pacific Red Lionfish was first reported off the Florida coast in 1985, following which it has spread across much of the SE USA, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. Lionfish negatively impact fish and invertebrate assemblages and abundances, thus further spread is cause for concern. To date, the fish has not been reported on the Pacific coast of North or Central America. Here we examine ...

Understanding how predators select their prey can provide important insights into community structure and dynamics. However, the suite of prey species available to a predator is often spatially and temporally variable. As a result, species-specific selectivity data are of limited use for predicting novel predator-prey interactions because they are assemblage specific. We present a method for pr...

Despite considerable study, mystery surrounds the use of signals that initiate cooperative hunting in animals. Using a labyrinth test chamber, we examined whether a lionfish, Dendrochirus zebra, would initiate cooperative hunts with piscine partners. We found that D. zebra uses a stereotyped flared fin display to alert conspecific and heterospecific lionfish species Pterois antennata to the pre...

Despite considerable study, mystery surrounds the use of signals that initiate cooperative hunting in animals. Using a labyrinth test chamber, we examined whether a lionfish, Dendrochirus zebra, would initiate cooperative hunts with piscine partners. We found that D. zebra uses a stereotyped flared fin display to alert conspecific and heterospecific lionfish species Pterois antennata to the pre...

Suboptimal nutrition may contribute to lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) health issues in managed care environments. This study’s objective was establish compare whole blood fatty acid profiles wild aquarium lionfish. Whole samples were dried onto specialized high-quality paper cards from wild, invasive harvested off the North Carolina coast (n = 16) by Aquariums 12). Blood analyzed...

Abstract Biodiversity is declining on a global scale and the spread of invasive alien species (IAS) major driver, particularly through predatory impacts. Thus, effective means assessing predicting consequences IAS predation native prey population stability remains vital goal for conservation. Here, we applied two classic ecological concepts, consumer functional response (FR) switching, to predi...

Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois spp. have recently invaded marine habitats throughout the western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. Their unusual hunting behaviour suggests that they could prey on most fish species within their gape size limits. However, few prey species have been identified so far due to the challenges of identifying partly digested prey. Moreover, it is not clear how...

Lionfish (Pterois spp.) which is native to Indo-Pacific region has been invading the Turkish coastal region and propagating rapidly as a Lessepsian species in the last years. Envenomation is expected to be encountered more frequently by divers due to its noteworthy appearance and by fishermen due to its novelty in the region. Lionfish sting is mostly seen at hands and results in pain, local ede...