Predation Strategies of Lionfish
My PhD thesis focused on Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois Miles) to understand the strategies that predators use to target their prey. While red lionfish (Pterois volitans) are most notable for their invasion of the Atlantic Ocean, their voracious appetite, generalist feeding preference, and prey stalking behaviors make them an ideal system for studying predation. I'm also interested in how these strategies of predation and escape related to ecosystems impacted by invasive species.
Coupled Predator-Prey Strategies
The escape behaviors of fish prey and capture behaviors of fish predators are fairly well described. But less is known about the strategies each animal adopts prior to an escape or strike. These behaviors are highly complex and to fully understand the interaction, the strategies of each animal must be viewed as a coupled system. We employed a combination of behavioral experiments and mathematical modeling to describe the coupled behavioral strategies of predator and prey.