engleski

Will the lionfish (Pterois miles) conquer the Adriatic Sea?

The scorpaenid fish Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), originating from the Indo-Pacific, is considered one of the worst invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea. Once established, its populations can have damaging effects on native communities, resulting in biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, and economic effects on the fishing industry and marine-based activities as evidenced in the Eastern Mediterranean (e.g. Cyprus and Greece). Their biological traits and ecological habits: early maturity, high growth rate and fecundity, long-range larval dispersion, venomous spines, generalist diet, and habitat flexibility, combined with lack of native predators facilitate their spreading and establishment success. In the Adriatic Sea the lionfish was recorded for the first time in summer of 2019 along the Italian and Albanian coasts (in the Strait of Otranto) and in summer 2020 ca. 90 km northwest from the Otranto Strait in Apulia. Here we report a single spotting of P. miles in August 2021, on the Island Vis near Komiža, more than 250 km northwest from the previous (2020) sighting in the Adriatic Sea. The fish was approx. 13 cm long, spotted at 15 m depth, on a rocky bottom covered with algae. Contrary to prediction models, this finding shows that the species could spread even further to the north than expected. Despite the efforts of Croatian scientists to warn about the possible danger, no proper actions of relevant national authorities have been initiated to date to tackle the issue. Monitoring and population controlling actions are urgently needed as a rapid response following early detection of invasive species is considered the best approach in potential damage mitigation. Although the number of individuals found at particular locations in the Adriatic so far was small (1 or 2 fish), there is an urgent need to educate divers, fishers and the wide public about the matter and to develop legal protocol for eradication. Moreover, a Croatian network for collecting and exchanging information about the fish spotting targeted for divers and fishers should be established. Due to climate change it could be expected that the sea temperature of the Adriatic will rise in the future making it more suitable for the establishment of the lionfish and formation of dense populations.

invasive species spreading, new finding, Vis Island, Mediterranean

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