Abstract

Examining the feeding ecology and dietary composition of an invading species is critical for understand-ing the impact of the invader on the indigenous populations and community structure. The indo-pacific lionfish has emerged as the preeminent marine invasive species in the Caribbean. Here we examined a Western Caribbean reef community at Turneffe atoll in Belize. We visually inspected the stomach contents of 255 lionfish from 7 sites around the atoll. Sixty-five percent of the lionfish stomachs contained identifiable individuals, while 19% were completely emp-ty. Four different orders of invertebrates were identified, and 15 species of teleosts from 11 families. The bluehead wrasse (Labridae), Thalassoma bifasciatum, and the masked goby (Gobiidae), Coryphopterus personatus, accounted for 59% of all identified teleost specimens. However, 43% were unidentifiable specimens due to advanced digestion, DNA barcoding analysis may reveal the identity of these digested contents.

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