Luís Guilherme França / PCRDivers help to eliminate the invasive species in Fernando de NoronhaLuís Guilherme França / PCR
An invasive species first found off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in 2014 and in waters of Brazil’s Northeast region in 2020, the lionfish (Pterois volitans) has quickly proliferated. In August 2024, biologists from the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), and the Reef Conservation Project (PCR) captured less than 50 of them near the Fernando de Noronha archipelago. At the beginning of April this year they returned, finding 114 specimens of the invasive species in just four days, with the fish having reoccupied the shelter of the rocks they had cleared during the previous expedition. Based on georeferencing data, researchers from Ceará, Pará, Maranhão, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Alagoas, and Bahia found that the animal, which feeds on native fish species, has already reached 18 marine conservation units in Brazil, including some with coral reefs and endemic species. The species now occupies 4,000 of the 10,900 kilometers of Brazilian coastline. The spiny, striped fish with no known predators in Brazil has been seen mainly in the Northeast due to warmer waters, including Jericoacoara National Park, the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, and the Rocas Atoll. Environmental agencies have published guidelines on how to capture and kill lionfish (Marine Environmental Research, June).
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