Photo by andresurena from unsplash
Indo-Pacific lionfishes generally exhibit cryptic behaviours and so can be missed when conducting non-targeted surveys. Here, we report the results from targeted surveys of lionfish at Moorea, French Polynesia. Lionfish… Click to show full abstract
Indo-Pacific lionfishes generally exhibit cryptic behaviours and so can be missed when conducting non-targeted surveys. Here, we report the results from targeted surveys of lionfish at Moorea, French Polynesia. Lionfish from three species (Pterois antennata, Pterois radiata, Dendrochirus biocellatus) were observed at a mean density of 267 individuals ha-1 . This is substantially higher than previous estimates from the same area (Moorea) and represents the highest reported density of lionfishes from their Pacific range. Overall, this study highlights the importance of targeted survey techniques for detecting cryptic species on coral reefs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Journal Title: Journal of fish biology
Year Published: 2022
Link to full text (if available)
Share on Social Media: Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!