The success of the lionfish invasion in the western Atlantic can be explained by its rapid dispersion rate, as well as a rapid population growth due to its high fecundity. The adequate invasion control measures may vary between (sub) populations of the wider Caribbean region with differences in ecological and environmental conditions. Lionfish growth studies have been conducted in several places in the invaded region, but are missing from the southern Caribbean. We estimated the growth parameters and empirical natural mortality rates of P. volitans in the Colombian Caribbean and compare them with other native mesopredatory fish. To do so, we used Tropfish R and fishboot, a recently developed statistical stock assessment package that incorporates resampling techniques and allows for estimating the confidence interval around the estimates. Size records of 1184 speared fish caught between 2014 and 2017 in continental and insular reef areas were analyzed. Our results confirm the rapid growth of lionfish (K=0.44; C=0.62) and reveal high similarities in growth rate among Colombian Caribbean areas but differences among the invaded area regions, primarily explained by water temperature, habitat heterogeneity and structural complexity, food availability, potential bathymetric ontogenetic movement, and the time elapsed since colonization. The invader’s efficiency over its competitors is best explained by the lionfish’s fast growth and early age at maturity.

狮子鱼在西大西洋的入侵成功与否可以用其迅速的分散速度以及由于其高繁殖力而迅速的种群增长来解释。适当的入侵控制措施可能在大加勒比地区的（亚）种群之间有所不同，生态和环境条件也有所不同。在入侵地区的多个地方都进行了fish鱼生长研究，但加勒比南部地区却没有。我们估算了P. volitans的生长参数和经验自然死亡率在哥伦比亚加勒比海地区进行比较，并将其与其他当地的中捕鱼类进行比较。为此，我们使用了Tropfish R和fishboot，这是最近开发的统计种群评估软件包，该软件包结合了重采样技术，并允许估计估计值周围的置信区间。分析了2014年至2017年期间在大陆和岛礁地区捕获的1184条长矛鱼的大小记录。我们的结果证实了fish鱼的快速生长（K = 0.44； C = 0.62），并揭示了哥伦比亚加勒比海地区的生长率高度相似，但入侵地区之间的差异主要由水温，生境异质性和结构复杂性，食物供应量来解释。 ，潜在的等深线个体发育运动以及自定居以来经过的时间。