Slattery, Marc; Gochfeld, Deborah

Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems: Refugia for Lionfish? Final Report

2020

"Invasive lionfish have caused significant changes to Atlantic coral reef structure and function due to their novel predatory impacts on ecologically important fishes. However, management solutions to control these invasive predators have been constrained by a generally limited understanding of their ecology in their new environment. For example, although recent data suggest that culling operations on some shallow Caribbean coral reefs have reduced lionfish populations, these studies have not addressed the numbers of lionfish in contiguous mesophotic coral reef habitats (~ 30-150m depth), nor have they examined the degree to which these populations migrate between mesophotic and shallow depths to feed. The objectives of this project are to: 1) Document the size of lionfish populations in the mesophotic reefs of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and determine whether lionfish migrate from mesophotic to shallow reefs to feed. 2) Assess ontogenetic changes in habitat and resource utilization by lionfish. 3) Assess changes to the USVI mesophotic reef structure and function relative to the lionfish invasion. 4) Enhance awareness of the importance of invasive lionfish to the entire coral reef community through public education and outreach."

lionfish, mesophotic reef, invasive species

NOS

OCM

FY2016; Domestic Cooperative Agreement NA16NOS4820054.

NA16NOS4820054