The Lion's Diet

Photo by Grant Stirton
In the picture on the left, you see a coral reef which:
1. Houses hundreds of fishes and marine animals, each varying in colour, shape, and size.
2. Help prevent coastlines from eroding.
3. Provides spawning, nurserys, refuge and feeding areas for hundreds of marine organisms which add to their country’s biodiversity and all live in harmony to create a stable ecosystem. 



When lionfish was introduced to the aquatic environment, they IMMEDIATELY changed the harmony of these ecosystems due to their predatory behavior.

          These fishes have been increasing and spreading rapidly, causing danger to an abundance of fish as they come across new areas. 1This invasive carnivore may cause deleterious changes in coral-reef ecosystems via predation on native fishes and invertebrates as well as competition with native predators.
2,3 These ambush predators consume a wide variety of native fish and invertebrate species at high rates, and are well defended from predation by venomous fin spines.
Photo by Alex Mustard
On a study done by Green, Akins, Maljković and Côté, the lionfish’s diet was examined through their stomach content, changes of the fish biomass of lionfish and the native fishes at the site over the period that they were there. This study was done in New Province Island, Bahamas at nine coral reefs.  In the study, it was found that lionfish abundance increased rapidly between 2004-2010, by which time lionfish comprised nearly 40% of the total predator biomass in the system. The increase in lionfish abundance coincided with a 65% decline in the biomass of the lionfish’s 42 Atlantic prey fishes in just two years. Ninety percent of the prey consumed by lionfish was small-bodied reef fishes from 42 species according to Green, Akins, Maljković and Côté. 
In another similar study done by Isabelle M. Côté and Aleksandra Maljkovic, on the predation rates of these lionfish, it was found that At least 19 fish species, in at least 9 families, were stalked by lionfish, with at least 4 of these species preyed upon. 4This represents approximately half of the family diversity (21 families) recorded in the stomach contents of lionfish from the Bahamian archipelago (Morris & Akins 2009).
In these two studies, it can be concluded that these fish prey on many different species of fish in the ecosystems that were tested. Hence, the more these fish feed, the more the biodiversity of these country’s aquatic animals decreases as they are nothing short of an insatiable predator.


References:
1.   Albins MA, Hixon MA (2008) Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans reduce recruitment of Atlantic coral-reef fishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 367:233–238
2.   Morris JAJ, Akins JL (2009) Feeding ecology of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) in the Bahamian Archipelago. Environmental Biology of Fishes 86: 389–398.
3.   Green SJ, Akins JL, Coˆte´ IM (2011) Foraging behaviour and prey consumption in the Indo-Pacific lionfish on Bahamian coral reefs. Marine Ecology Progress Series 433: 159–167.
4.   Morris JAJ, Akins JL (2009) Feeding ecology of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans)in the Bahamian archipelago. Environ Biol Fishes 86:389–398



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