September 18, 2014 — Rising temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean may be allowing certain tropical fish to spread to shallow waters that are becoming warmer, an expansion that could pose a significant threat to coral reefs, ecologists report.
A study of 40 species along the reefs off the North Carolina coast shows northward movement by the invasive and poisonous lionfish, according to researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, who published their findings in the September issue of Marine Ecology Progress Series.
"Globally, fish communities are becoming more tropical as a result of warming temperatures, as fish move to follow their optimal temperature range," study author Paula Whitfield, a research ecologist at NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, said in a news release. "Along the North Carolina coast, warming water temperatures may allow the expansion of tropical fish species, such as lionfish, into areas that were previously uninhabitable due to cold winter temperatures."
The Indo-Pacific lionfish was first sighted off the Florida east coast in the late 1980s. They have since spread throughout the western North Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, according to the news release.
In 2000, the lionfish was also reported off the coast of North Carolina. Historically, both temperate and tropical species live in the North Carolina reefs, confined to their range limits by water temperatures. But, the researchers noted, temperatures in this zone are becoming more tropical.
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