Distribución y abundancia del pez león Pterois volitans en la zona costera de uso turístico de Holguín, Cuba

In Cuba, as of 2007, the invasion of Pterois volitans was detected, commonly called lionfish, an invasive species that causes great damage to indigenous ichthyological communities in different regions of the world. This work was proposed to determine the distribution and abundance of lionfish in different sampling sites in the coastal zone of tourist use of Holguin. The study was conducted in eight sampling campaigns during the period from April to November 2016. A total of seven monitoring sites were selected distributed in two municipalities of Holguin province (Rafael Freyre and Banes). The abundance was determined by averaging the values of each linear travel (individual per 100 m2).  Size and weight were determined by sampling station with a measuring tape and digital balance.  The multiple means comparison was performed by PERMANOVA with 10 000 permutations using the Euclidean distance. Were registered 365 individuals, including all sampling sites. The site with the highest density was Playa Blanca, with 12.42 ind/100 m2 and the lowest abundance Don Lino beach, with 3.66 ind/100 m2, detecting only statistical difference between this site and the rest of the monitored sites. The month with the highest density in the year of study was April with 13.14 ind/100 m2, registering significant statistical differences in terms of abundance between this and the months of May (6.42 ind/100 m2), July (7.28 ind/100 m2) and August (6.71 ind/100 m2). The comparison of the population abundance among years of the lionfish recorded in 2016 with previous years shows statistical differences between the years 2013 (p <0.001) and 2012 (p <0.01).