Abstract

The introduction and spread of Indo-Pacific lionfishes (Pterois volitans and P. miles) in the Western Atlantic (WA) since the 1990s has stimulated research examining their dispersal from the US east coast to Bermuda and across marine connectivity barriers into the Bahamas and subsequently throughout the Caribbean (Freshwater et al. 2009, Schofield 2009, 2010, Betancur-R et al. 2011). A strong founder effect has been noted in the WA populations of both species which show low genetic diversity compared with the native source populations in Western Indonesia (Freshwater et al. 2009). A secondary founder effect has been suggested to explain the observed population break and further reduction in genetic diversity of P. volitans as the invasion of this species has progressed with a fairly significant time lag between the invasion of northern WA locations and those of the Caribbean (Betancur-R et al. 2011). Only three or four d-loop haplotypes have been found in the northwestern and central Caribbean populations (Grand Cayman, San Andrés, Santa Marta) compared with a total of nine in the northern WA group (North Carolina, Bahamas and Bermuda) (Betancur-R et al. 2011) (Table 1). To date there have been no genetic analyses of lionfish published from the eastern Caribbean, a region further isolated from the rest of the Caribbean by a significant connectivity barrier (see Cowen et al. 2006). This study therefore represents the first report of the application of DNA sequencing to determine the species and haplotypic composition of the invasive lionfish in this region. We hypothesised that only P. volitans will have reached Barbados, and that there will be a second population break and further reduction in genetic diversity with the continued spread of this species across the eastern Caribbean connectivity barrier.

PDF Preview