Abstract

The Indo-Pacific lionfish (P. volitans/P. miles) was rapidly established throughout the Atlantic and Caribbean region over the last decade, inhabiting a range of habitats (i.e. coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves) and depths. We investigated the lionfish invasion by examining their abundance and density at different depths and reef types as part of the US Virgin Islands long-term Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program (TCRMP). This study utilized both roving diver and belt transects at 33 permanent monitoring sites. In 2008, the first lionfish was reported by a recreational diver in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lionfish were first observed on TCRMP sites in 2009 in St. Croix and 2010 in St. Thomas. Since that time its population on shallow reef sites increased dramatically then showed a slight decline or leveling off before increasing again. The slight reductions in numbers in shallow reef sites may be due, in part, by removal efforts that have largely been focused within recreational diving limits on reefs less than 30m. The recent increase in lionfish numbers has occurred mostly on mesophotic reef sites. This study highlights the importance of collecting more quantitative data on lionfish impacts on native reef fishes in mesophotic depths and informing managers to develop new strategies to effectively reduce their numbers.

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