Mean densities of lionfish 100 m⁻² on natural and artificial reefs.

<p>Mean (95% CI) density of lionfish in fall 2010−2013 estimated with micro remotely operated vehicle-based video sampling at northern Gulf of Mexico natural (A,B) and artificial reef sites (C,D); red arrows in reef images indicate lionfish. No video sampling occurred at artificial reef sites in fall 2010.</p

Habitat-specific total length distributions of lionfish samples by season.

<p>Season-specific total length distributions of lionfish sampled by spear at northern Gulf of Mexico natural and artificial reef sites from April 2013 through March 2014.</p

Bi-plot of lionfish muscle δ¹⁵N versus δ¹³C values.

<p>Plot of total length-corrected δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values from lionfish white muscle samples collected at northern Gulf of Mexico natural (NR) and artificial (AR) reefs in spring 2013 and winter 2014. Mean values of δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C are depicted with 95% CI by the four combinations of season and habitat.</p

Prey taxa observed in red lionfish stomachs sampled in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

<p>The overall percent diet by mass is given for natural (NR) and artificial reef (AR) samples.</p><p>Prey taxa observed in red lionfish stomachs sampled in the northern Gulf of Mexico.</p

Indices of lionfish diet by habitat, season and size class.

<p>Stacked bar plots of A) mean percent diet by number of prey items, B) mean percent diet by prey mass, and C) mean percent index of relative importance for seven prey categories (PI  =  pelagic invertebrates, BI  =  other benthic invertebrates, Cr  =  crabs, Sh  =  shrimps, PF  =  pelagic fishes, nrF  =  non-reef fishes, and RF  =  reef fishes) observed in lionfish stomach samples. Lionfish were sampled with spears in the northern Gulf of Mexico during spring 2013 through winter 14. Size categories: S  =  <200 mm total length (TL), M = 200–250 mm TL, and L = >250 mm TL. Habitat types: natural  =  natural reefs, artificial  =  artificial reefs.</p

Length to weight relationship of speared lionfish predicts lionfish mass from ROV length observations.

<p>A) Mean (95% CI) total length of red lionfish (n = 190) observed in remotely operated vehicle video (ROV) samples at northern Gulf of Mexico reef sites and measured in video images with a red laser scale attached to the ROV; F = fall, 11 = 2011, 12 = 2012, and 13 = 2013. B) Non-linear regression computed to predict red lionfish mass from total length from fish (n = 934) captured by spearfishing. C) Mean (95% CI) predicted mass of lionfish (n = 190) observed in ROV video samples and measured with a red laser scale.</p