Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois spp.) have become established throughout the Caribbean and the coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to central Brazil. Lionfish may also invade estuaries, as they tolerate salinities down to 4‰. We hypothesize that the functional characteristics of their visual system (which evolved in the clear tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific) or their inability to tolerate hypoxia will limit the capacity of lionfish to occupy these areas. We assessed the former with corneal electroretinography and the latter with intermittent-flow respirometry. The luminous sensitivity, temporal resolution (quantified as flicker fusion frequency), and spectral sensitivity of the lionfish visual system are like those of native piscivores, indicating that their visual system will be functional under estuarine photic conditions and allow lionfish to be effective piscivores. In contrast, acute exposure to reduced oxygen levels (equivalent to those commonly occurring in mid-Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico estuaries) exceeded the physiological tolerances of lionfish. We therefore conclude that hypoxia will control or limit estuarine invasion.

印太平洋fish鱼（Pterois从北卡罗来纳州到巴西中部的整个加勒比海地区以及墨西哥湾和西大西洋的沿海地区均已建立。鱼也可以入侵河口，因为它们可以将盐度降低到4‰。我们假设它们的视觉系统（在印度洋-太平洋的热带海域进化）的功能特征或不能耐受缺氧将限制l鱼占据这些区域的能力。我们通过角膜视网膜电图检查评估了前者，而通过间歇流动呼吸法评估了后者。狮子鱼视觉系统的发光灵敏度，时间分辨率（量化为闪烁融合频率）和光谱灵敏度类似于本地食肉动物，表明他们的视觉系统在河口光合条件下将起作用，并使allow鱼成为有效的食肉动物。相反，急性暴露于降低的氧气水平（相当于大西洋中部和墨西哥湾河口通常发生的氧气水平）超过了fish鱼的生理耐受性。因此，我们得出结论，缺氧将控制或限制河口的入侵。