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. *c.jimenez@enaliaphysis.org.cy; [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.