Abstract

The invasive Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans) was introduced to the Caribbean in the early 1990s and has been rapidly expanding its range. It was first found in the US Virgin Islands in 2008 and is now becoming a common sight on most coral reefs. This study will examine the potential impact of lionfish on Virgin Islands reef fishes. The main focus of my research is the relationship between predator and prey size. By measuring the mouth gape height and length of the lion fish will help us understand what kind of prey can be eaten by lion fish. Lionfish collected from local fisherman were used to collect information on size, weight, sex and gut contents. Once stomachs were removed from lionfish the contents were weighed, measured and identified to the lowest taxonomic level. By identifying the different food items, we are able to pinpoint what kind of species lion fish are targeting. Prey were separated into three body types —elongated (e.g. wrasses), heavy bodied (e.g. groupers), and disk shaped (e.g. surgeonfishes). g. groupers), and disk shaped (e.g. surgeonfishes). My hypothesis is that small lion fish can only eat skinny or thin prey while larger lionfish will begin to eat disk-shaped prey. If my hypothesis proves to be correct, then this suggests that bigger lion fish eat different species of prey than smaller lionfish which can help us identify the fish species that are mostly targeted by lion fish of different sizes. This information is helping us with the evaluation of lion fish impacts on local fish populations

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