Jason Hall Spencer Rising sea temperatures are fueling a surge in the numbers of a carnivorous lionfish (Pterois miles) in the Mediterranean, and they’re preying on herbivorous fish species that are key to maintaining the seas ecosystem. “The lionfish is an Indo-Pacific fish and it sits well in that ecosystem as there are predators that are used to eating it, so its population numbers don’t explode out of control,” Jason Hall-Spencer, paper co-author and a marine biologist at Plymouth University.. “It’s already caused havoc ecologically in the Caribbean as it eats the herbivorous fish that normally keep the algae down so that it doesn’t choke the reefs there. It’s worrying that it’s spreading in the Mediterranean—it needs to be exterminated quickly.” In a study published in the journal Marine Biodiversity Records, the researchers describe how the lionfish—a breed native to the Indo-Pacific sea—has colonised the entire southeastern coast of Cyprus, from Limassol to Protaras, in the space of just one year. The research team used both existing government data, and their own data sourced from local fishermen and divers to determine the extent and speed at which lionfish were breeding in the area. They found at least 24 confirmed sightings of 19 individuals.
July 4, 2016