Lionfish Response Plan: A Systematic Approach to Managing Impacts From the Lionfish, an Invasive Species, in Units of the National Park System

摘要

The exotic red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is a venomous predatory fish native to the Indian and Pacific oceans and first observed in South Florida in the 1980s. The recent rapid expansion of the lionfish invasion throughout the southeastern Atlantic seaboard, the Caribbean and parts of the Gulf of Mexico is of great concern to the National Park Service and other marine resource managers. Lionfish are voracious predators of fish and invertebrates capable of removing tremendous amounts of prey and causing ecological impacts to coral reefs and other habitats, which are already stressed by coral bleaching, fishing pressure, pollution and other impacts. Lionfish also present risks of stings from their venomous spines to visitors and employees. Their rapid expansion threatens the very resources and values that parks were established to protect, and diminishes the quality of visitor experience for anglers, divers, snorkelers and other visitors.