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. 2011;6(6):e21510.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021510. Epub 2011 Jun 23.

Grouper as a natural biocontrol of invasive lionfish

Peter J Mumby  1 , Alastair R Harborne, Daniel R Brumbaugh
Affiliations

Grouper as a natural biocontrol of invasive lionfish

Peter J Mumby et al. PLoS One. 2011.

Abstract

Lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) have invaded the majority of the Caribbean region within five years. As voracious predators of native fishes with a broad habitat distribution, lionfish are poised to cause an unprecedented disruption to coral reef diversity and function. Controls of lionfish densities within its native range are poorly understood, but they have been recorded in the stomachs of large-bodied Caribbean groupers. Whether grouper predation of lionfish is sufficient to act as a biocontrol of the invasive species is unknown, but pest biocontrol by predatory fishes has been reported in other ecosystems. Groupers were surveyed along a chain of Bahamian reefs, including one of the region's most successful marine reserves which supports the top one percentile of Caribbean grouper biomass. Lionfish biomass exhibited a 7-fold and non-linear reduction in relation to the biomass of grouper. While Caribbean grouper appear to be a biocontrol of invasive lionfish, the overexploitation of their populations by fishers, means that their median biomass on Caribbean reefs is an order of magnitude less than in our study. Thus, chronic overfishing will probably prevent natural biocontrol of lionfishes in the Caribbean.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Frequency distribution of the number of sites supporting the current range of grouper biomasses recorded in the Caribbean.
Data derived from the Atlantic Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment database. ECLSP  =  Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Relationship between grouper biomass and lionfish density.
Open squares are sites outside the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, filled squares are sites within the Park. Errors bars represent standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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