Meeting Abstract
An invasive predator can be detrimental to an ecosystem by disrupting food webs and outcompeting native predators. The ability to invade may be enhanced by a superior capacity of an invasive predator to sense and feed upon naive prey. In order to test this idea, we have begun an investigation into the foraging behavior of the Indo-Pacific red lionfish (Pterois volitans), which has invaded coral reefs of the Western Atlantic. We recorded the kinematics of foraging and the escape behaviors of prey endemic to the Indo-Pacific under various light levels in order to replicated diurnal, nocturnal, and crepuscular conditions in a cylindrical arena. In daylight, prey actively roamed the arena while lionfish constantly tracked and attempted to pursue prey. Successful captures were rare and occurred when prey were positioned directly against the wall. In darkness, prey mainly hugged the arena walls and instead of closely tracking prey, lionfish prowled the arena, often swimming in concentric circles. Encounters occurred less frequently in darkness, but lionfish were more successful during these encounters. The change in light/dark swimming behavior of lionfish indicates a switch in hunting modes when visual cues are removed that may increase the capture rate for lionfish. These preliminary findings offer a basis for examining whether lionfish feature exceptional foraging behaviors when interacting with their endemic prey. We plan to use these interactions to compare foraging behaviors during interactions with naive prey endemic to the red lionfish’s invasive range.
