5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Carlos Jimenez 1,2*, Antonis Petrou 1, Vasilis Andreou 1, Louis Hadjioannou 1, Werner Wolf 3, Dan
Hayes 4, Nikos Koutsoloukas 5 and Rana Abu Alhaija 1,2
[1] Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre, 2 Acropoleos St., Aglantzia 2101, Nicosia;
Cyprus. *[email protected]; [2] Energy, Environment and Water Research Center of
The Cyprus Institute, P.O. Box 27456, 1645 Nicosia; Cyprus; [3] Q-Divers, 27 Archbishop Makariou
III St., Agia Napa; Cyprus; [4] Oceanography Centre, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537 1678,
Nicosia, Cyprus; [5] Ocean Aquarium, 19 Cavo Greco Ave., Paralimni; Cyprus
2. What we are doing?
• Island-wide network of collaborators (professional and recreational divers and
fishermen, port and governmental authorities, volunteers and observers of opportunity)
set up in 2011 initially to monitor coral communities and more recently lionfish.
• Records of sightings, specimens and what is usually more difficult, a chronology of the
dispersal and development of P. miles populations.
• Formulated interviews to record a set of standard observations (e.g. number of
individuals, estimated size, substrate, depth, locality).
• Specimens captured for taxonomic, morphometric, sexing (MEDITS protocol), genetic
and stomach content analyses.
• Observations of behaviour (e.g. mating, feeding) and of predation by other carnivorous
fish species.
• Interactions with other species and effects on the local fish community
• Live specimens kept in aquaria for observation.
• Local perception about the presence of P. miles in touristic areas
We thank the Cypriot community of fishermen and divers for reporting catches and
sightings of lionfish all around the island. Thanks are also due to the Department of
Fisheries and Marine Research of Cyprus for their support to this study.
4. Perspectives (A feast of lions?)
• Similar pattern of rapid increase in lionfish abundance and distribution has been
observed elsewhere (e.g. Caribbean). Initial reports restricted mainly to two areas and
in about 3-4 years P. miles started being observed along almost all coastal areas of the
island.
• Currently, solitary individuals or aggregations of P. miles are successfully recruited to
specific substrates (rocky and shipwrecks).
• While there are reports of predation by Epinephelus marginatus (dusky grouper), there
is none of the known P. miles predator Fistularia commersoni (bluespotted cornetfish) in
spite of high abundance in Cyprus.
• The pattern of dispersal and abundance described here is not considered an artefact of
sampling since lionfish are very conspicuous and hard to go unnoticed. Reports in the
social media [3] confirm that this species is highly visible even to the novice diver.
• There is an incipient consumption of P. miles by divers and fishermen in Cyprus.
• These considerations suggest that for the lionfish in Cyprus, a “recent wave” of
dispersal was followed by successful recruitment and survivorship is effectively in
motion.
[1] Bariche, M., Torres, M., Azzurro, E., 2013. The presence of the invasive Lionfish Pterois miles in
the Mediterranean Sea. Mediterranean Mar. Sci. 14: 292-294.
[2] Bernadsky, G. and Goulet, D., 1991. A natural predator of the Lion fish, Pterois miles. COPEIA
1: 230–231.
[3] Kletou, D., Hall-Spencer, J.M. and Kleitou, P., 2016. A lionfish (Pterois miles) invasion has begun
in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Biodiversity Records 9:46
6. REFERENCES
• The Levantine Sea is among the Mediterranean basins mostly affected by exotic marine
species. A large percentage of those are of Red Sea and Indo-Pacific origin, and their
dispersion (as larvae or adults) is essentially through the Suez Canal.
• The occurrence and abundance of the emblematic lionfish (Pterois miles) during the last
three to four years in the Levantine Basin has rapidly increased in what appears to be a
“recent wave” [1] of very successful propagules.
• The present study aims to clarify P. miles’ dispersion pattern in Cyprus as well as several
ecological and biological aspects of the species.
1. INTRODUCTION (Looks who’s here!)
Lionfish showing the characteristic flared fin display. Larnaca Bay, isolated
rocky outcrop; 13m depth; August 4, 2016.
Veni, vidi, vici: The successful establishment of the lionfish
Pterois miles in Cyprus (Levantine Sea)
Chronology of an announced invasion. Modelled (2012) coastal circulation & sea surface temperature.
3. What do we know…or think we know?
Specimens collected with nets, trawling, spearfishing and hand-held nets from
different localities around Cyprus (shallow and deep waters) and throughout the
seasonal cycle. The taxonomy of nine specimens (14-29.4cm max. length; five males,
stages 2 and 4; three females, stages 1 to 3; one not sexed) from different locations
was resolved based on fin (dorsal and anal) ray meristics confirming the species is P.
miles.
Nurseries and
reproductive grounds
down to 70-100m
depth
Morphometrics and
taxonomy
Stomach contents, gonadal
development and genetic
analysis
Different size-classes
Artificial Substrates [e.g. shipwrecks] Natural Substrates
Capture for “sport” and consumption
Fish nets, spearfishing, hand-held nets
Aggregations
Gonad seasonal development
suggests more than one
reproductive period
Lionfish has successfully recruited in artificial and natural substrates from shallow to deep waters; at
the beginning as solitary individuals but now in aggregations of up to seven individuals; sport divers
spearfishing and fishermen on a regular basis capture lionfish in different stages of sexual maturity.