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Dawn Parry

Abstract
Two lionfish species, Pterois miles and Pterois volitans, native to
the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, have invaded the east coasts of
North and Central America. Their tolerance and lack of predators
have made them dominant predators that devastate native fish
populations. Derbies are held in invaded areas to keep populations
in check. To pinpoint areas lionfish likely have or will invade, a
study was done comparing temperature, depth, and salinity
measurements at times and locations lionfish were sighted to
temperatures, depths, and salinities of locations throughout the
Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Ocean Exploration Trust
collected water parameter data at four sites in the Caribbean and
Gulf where lionfish were sighted from 2012 to 2014. Data from the
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration was used
to calculate average temperatures and salinities over the past five
years for locations throughout the Caribbean and Gulf where water
depths were within the range of the depths of the lionfish sightings.
A definition query was used in ArcGIS to display a map of locations
where average temperature and salinity values were within the
temperature and salinity ranges in which lionfish were sighted. The
result was a map of 110 locations vulnerable to lionfish invasion
that showed a high concentration of vulnerable sites southwestern
Florida to Louisiana, meaning this region of the Gulf of Mexico
would be an effective area to hold derbies. Many locations were
identified on the map, and there are likely more areas vulnerable to
lionfish invasion.

GIS Analysis of Lionfish Populations in the


Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico
Objective: Use Geographic Information Systems to create a map showing locations in the
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico vulnerable to lionfish invasion.

Methods
Salinity, depth, and temperature data for the times and locations of lionfish sightings was obtained from Ocean Exploration Trust and compared to salinity, depth, and temperature data
collected by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administrations World Ocean Database at 222 areas throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea over the past five years.
Depth, temperature and salinity values were the only parameters available from both NOAA and Ocean Exploration Trust. At the four sites analyzed during the summer 2014 study, lionfish were
not seen in waters below 200 meters, or above 60 meters depth due to the deep-diving nature of the ROV, so salinity and temperature data from 60 to 200 meters depth was taken from the
NOAA database. The average temperatures and salinities for the past five years at each location were calculated and converted along with depth, latitude, and longitude at each location from an
Excel spreadsheet to a point file in an ArcGIS map. The point file contained attributes for temperature and salinity at 65, 90, 135, and 185 meters depth at points throughout the Gulf and
Caribbean (Table 1). The lionfish sighted by the Nautilus in the Gulf and Caribbean were found at temperatures ranging from 21-25C exclusive and at salinities from 34-37 parts per thousand
exclusive, so a definition query was used to display in the map only the points that represent sites at which the temperatures and salinities were within those ranges (Figure 3). If a location had
at least one average temperature and one average salinity within those ranges at any of the four depths, it was considered vulnerable to lionfish invasion and was displayed on the map.
Table 1. The attribute table of the shapefile showing points throughout the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico
contained fields for latitude and longitude coordinates, shown as X and Y respectively, temperatures at 65, 90, 135, and
185 meters depth (T_1, T_2, T_3, and T_4, respectively), and salinity at those four depths, (S_1, S_2, S_3, and S_4). A
sample of the table showing its first seven points is shown below.

Figure 3. A definition query was used to display on the map only the points with at least
one temperature measurement (T_1, T_2, T_3, or T_4) between 21 and 25C and at
least one salinity measurement (S_1, S_2, S_3, or S_4) between 34 and 37 ppt. Areas
meeting these criteria were displayed on the map, marking them as vulnerable to lionfish
invasion.

Figure 1. Lionfish are native to the Indian Ocean and South Pacific (blue and green), but
now inhabit waters from the coasts of South America north to Rhode Island (red) (photo:
USGS).

Discussion
The map shows lionfish have the potential to inhabit large areas of their
invasive range. The definition query used to select the points did so with a
small range of values, with only a 4C temperature range and a 3 ppt
salinity range, and still 110 sites were marked as vulnerable to lionfish
invasion, meaning that at any of those locations, the temperature and
salinity conditions of the water between 60 and 200 meters depth are
sufficient to sustain lionfish.
Unmarked areas on the map could still be vulnerable to lionfish invasion.
Lionfish can survive in a wider range of temperatures and salinities than
were examined in this study, so it is possible that many more areas in the
Gulf and Caribbean can support lionfish. In addition, NOAA temperature
and salinity data was not available at every point in the Caribbean and Gulf;
due to the high number of sites marked on the map in both bodies of water,
it is likely that many of those sites not marked also have the right conditions
at the right depths to sustain lionfish.
The high concentration of lionfish in the Gulf of Mexico from off the
southwestern coast of Florida north and west to off the coast of Louisiana
indicates that this area in the Gulf of Mexico should be a focus of lionfish
control efforts such as derbies, traps, and commercial fishing.
The map could also be used to predict the number of prey species that
would be lost in an area with lionfish and the economic impact of that loss,
since populations of prey species in an area with lionfish can decrease by
65% (Green et. al. 2012). The presence of lionfish could also cause a
decline in tourism: a decrease in native fish species in an area could lead to
a decrease in people spending money to travel to and dive there (Lionfish
2008). In addition, lionfish decimate species that keep coral healthy, such
as parrotfish (Figure 5). Parrotfish eat algae that compete with corals and
can therefore increase coral growth in an area by 19% (Mumby et. al.
2007). The presence of lionfish in an area would decrease parrotfish
populations and contribute to coral bleaching; therefore, sites vulnerable to
lionfish invasion on the map are also at an increased risk for coral
bleaching.

Figure 5. Lionfish contribute to coral bleaching by decimating populations of


parrotfish that eat algae living on coral.

Results
jjjjjA total of 110 sites out of the 222 locations analyzed were identified as vulnerable to lionfish invasion based on the requirements set forth in the definition query: 64 sites in the Gulf of Mexico
and 46 sites in the Caribbean Sea. The map shows these areas as bright green circles, and the turquoise squares show the four locations of lionfish sightings analyzed in the summer of 2014,
to which the NOAA data was compared (Figure 4). There is a higher concentration of vulnerable areas in the Gulf of Mexico than anywhere in the Caribbean, but many areas throughout the
Caribbean have also been identified as vulnerable.

Figure 6. Ocean Exploration Trust collects data with their exploration vessel
Nautilus.

Figure 2. OETs exploration vessel took pictures of lionfish at four sites in the Caribbean
and Gulf (photo: Ocean Exploration Trust).

Conclusion

Introduction
Two lionfish species, Pterois miles and Pterois volitans, native to the Indian
Ocean and South Pacific, have taken over the area from North Carolina to
South America and have been found as far north as Rhode Island (Figure 1)
(Lionfish 2008). Lionfish can inhabit water from the shoreline to 300 meters
depth and tolerate temperatures from 10-35C. They are resistant to parasites
and have no natural predators in their invasive range; their sharp, poisonous
spines provide effective self-defense. Lionfish populations in the Caribbean Sea
and Gulf of Mexico have exploded, due in part to the fact that a female lionfish
can lay two million eggs in four years (Nichols 2007).
Lionfish feed on seventy different prey species, most of which do not
recognize them as a threat (Lionfish 2006). From 2008 to 2010, Simon Fraser
University (SFU) and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF)
studied lionfish prey biomass in the Bahamas and found that as lionfish
populations increased, populations of prey species decreased by 65% (Green
et. al. 2012). Lionfish eat more than they need to survive, decimating fish native
to the east coast of the Americas.
REEF holds lionfish derbies in Florida and the Bahamas to decrease
invasive lionfish populations, since overfishing is the surest way to wipe out a
species (Llope et. al. 2011). Within a year after a derby removes lionfish from
an area, native prey species populations increase by 70% (Green et. al. 2012)
In summer 2014, eight high school students studied the distribution of
lionfish in the Caribbean and Gulf to give REEF and United States Geologic
Systems lionfish population data. Ocean Exploration Trust (OET), a ocean
research organization, owns the exploration vessel Nautilus, which deploys a
remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that photographs the ocean floor. The
students analyzed every lionfish photograph from 2012-2014, taken at
Barracuda Bank and Desecheo Ridge off Puerto Rico, St. Patricks Island, and
the sunken shipwreck of German U-boat U-2513 in the Gulf of Mexico, along
with depth, temperature, and habitat type at the instant the pictures were taken
(Figure 2). This project aims to pinpoint areas in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of
Mexico that are vulnerable to lionfish invasion using data from that 2014 study.

Based on data from four sites, 110 locations in the Gulf of Mexico and
Caribbean Sea are vulnerable to lionfish invasion, with a high concentration
of locations from southwestern Florida to Louisiana, though there are likely
more vulnerable areas in those water bodies.

Acknowledgements
Ocean Exploration Trust and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration provided the data for this project. The Marine Academy of
Technology and Environmental Science provided the ArcGIS software and
the computer used to analyze the data, and Dr. John Wnek and Jason
Kelsey provided guidance throughout the research process.

References

Figure 4. A map was in created with ArcGIS software to display points in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico vulnerable to lionfish invasion based on depth, temperature, and salinity data collected from four sites
where lionfish were sighted in the Caribbean and Gulf. The four sites are shown as turquoise squares (from left: U-2513, Desecheo Ridge, St. Patricks Island, and Barracuda Bank). Vulnerable areas are shown as
bright green circles. A total of 110 sites were identified as vulnerable in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

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