Question

Select the best answer that describes how lionfish are impacting biodiversity in Florida. O Lionfish are consuming large quantities of plankton, a vital part of the food web O Lionfish are competing with large sharks for prey Lionfish are rapidly consuming many smaller fish species along the coast at depths up to 90 meters. Lionfish are consuming the majority of the shrimp populations near the coast, as it is their only food source

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Answer 1

Lionfish are rapidly consuming many smaller fish species along the coast at depths up to 90 meters.

Step-by-step explanation:

Lionfish is an invasive species that has been successfully established in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a tropical species that lives mostly in reefs and rocks that provide protection. It inhabits waters from the coast to 50 meters deep.

Because of its high densities in the Atlantic, Lionfish is a promoter of ecological, economic, socio-cultural consequences. They only have a few predators and consume a high diversity of prey items. They produce an ecological imbalance in the trophic chains of the marine ecosystem. When competing with native piscivores, they imbalance the dynamics of fish communities in coral reefs and mangroves. The density of young and herbivores fishes has decreased because of their predation by the lionfish. By predating on algae eating fishes, they provoke a sharp increase in algae populations, which produces serious damages in the coral reefs, enhancing their mortality. The main consequences of these damages are marine biodiversity loss, water quality decrease, ecosystem recovery difficulty, and impacts on food provisioning for many other ocean species.