Working with the University of Cyprus, Plymouth scientists will be helping to coordinate the development and implementation of an early surveillance and detection system, and a removal response strategy.
The four-year project, RELIONMED – funded by €1,676,077 from the European Union’s LIFE programme – follows on from research conducted last year, which showed that the lionfish had colonised the south eastern coast of Cyprus in just one year, moving in from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal.
Lionfish are generalist carnivores and can feed on a variety of fish and crustaceans. They spawn every four days, year-round, producing around two million buoyant gelatinous eggs per year, which can ride the ocean currents and cover large distances for about a month before they settle.