Lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) catch, size and sex records from Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve, Mexican Caribbean (2023–2024)

This dataset contains the field records used in the article “Depth and large-scale reef structure are associated with the relative abundance and size of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) in Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve, Mexican Caribbean” (Benítez-Castillo et al., submitted to Biological Invasions). Lionfish were captured incidentally by spiny lobster fishers (Sociedad Cooperativa Langosteros del Caribe) by free diving with Hawaiian slings during the 2023 (July–November) and 2024 (July–December) fishing seasons, within a 5 × 5 km grid of 36 quadrants covering the reserve. Data were collected under the PROREST program of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), Mexico. Files: lionfish_BCBR_individual_records (.xlsx): one row per lionfish (1,486 individuals) with year, month, quadrant, sector, abundance zone, capture depth, total length, total weight and sex. Implausible values are flagged, not modified. lionfish_BCBR_sex (.xlsx): sex of each individual by quadrant and abundance zone (834 males, 652 females). lionfish_BCBR_quadrant_CPUE_habitat (.xlsx): catch per unit effort, mean capture depth and cover of nine benthic habitat categories for each quadrant with catches. README.txt: description of all variables and units.