Abstract

The lionfish Pterois volitansis an invasive species introduced in Florida in the 1980s. Lionfishes were first reported in Guadeloupe in 2010. The lack of predators allowed that invader to reach high densities that threaten local assem-blages of reef fishes. In order to study their potential impact in Guadeloupe Island (Lesser Antilles), the trophic ecol-ogy of lionfishes was investigated through the study of stomach contents. A total of 355 fishes from 5,5 cm to 33,9 cm (TL) were examined. The preys were characterized by their percentage in frequency, in numbers and in biomass. In Guade-loupe, teleost preys were present in 87% of stomachs, the remains being shrimps (44% of stomachs). The most im-portant fish families in biomass were Pomacentridae (59,9%), Mullidae (13,4) and Labridae (6,2%). Moreover, lionfish feeding ethology exhibits a important ontogenic variation, shifting from a Crustacean dominated diet for young fishes to a piscivorous diet for fishes whose size exceeds 10 cm (TL). In addition, Acanthurid and Scarid fishes are poorly con-sumed by lionfish, which does not corroborate the hypothesis that lionfish could contribute to the depletion od herbiv-orous fishes on Caribbean reefs.

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