| Summary: | Since the mid-1980s, two Indo-Pacific lionfishes, Pterois volitans and P. miles, have established a significant presence in the Western North Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The first documented report of lionfish (Pterois volitans) in Puerto Rico occurred in 2008, and these predatory fish were first observed in La Parguera a year later. In general, lionfish are professed to significantly affect ecosystem function and associated ecosystem services. This threat and the perceived negative impact of invasive lionfish on the marine ecosystems in the Western North Atlantic and Caribbean accentuate the need for sustained research on their biological and ecological dynamics. Removal efforts are an effective means of reducing lionfish densities, yet most studies fail to address the reaction of the native fish communities in response to these removals. Furthermore, assessing impacts should also involve investigating the feeding ecology to characterize the dietary profile of lionfish as their diets have been shown to be site specific. The main purpose of this five year study was to investigate the perceived impacts of lionfish by determining the real impacts on native fish communities in Puerto Rico by addressing the following objectives: 1) characterize the dietary profile of the lionfish using next generation sequencing, 2) determine the digestion rate of fish and shrimp prey items, with recommendations for future feeding ecology studies and 3) assess the effectiveness of a small-scale dedicated lionfish removal and the response of the native predators and prey. The major disadvantage of morphological identification and DNA barcoding is the inability to utilize the digested material. However, next generation sequencing (i.e., DNA metabarcoding) can analyze all components of the gut contents, including the previously unidentifiable portion. Sixty-three lionfish were caught from the inshore and offshore reefs of La Parguera and stomach contents were separated into two sample regimes – a ...
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