Lionfish and Scorpionfish Codexery

Lionfish

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Lionfish

Alexander Vasenin · via Wikipedia: Lionfish · CC BY-SA 3.0

They are prolific coral fish with conspicuous warning coloration of red or black bands and venomous dorsal spines.[1] The genus Pterois consists of venomous, ray-finned marine fish that naturally inhabit Indo-Pacific coral reef environments.[1] Within the genus Pterois, two species—P. volitans and P. miles—have become problematic invasive organisms in the western Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Mediterranean, while various Pterois species remain favored for aquarium display.[2]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderPerciformes
  6. FamilyScorpaenidae
  7. GenusPterois

Named by Oken, 1817

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Lionfish (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Last updated 2026-10-08 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Type species
Scorpaena volitans

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon and white stripes covering the head and body.[3] They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth, fan-like pectoral fins, and 13 dorsal spines.[3] An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.[3] Lionfish prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks.[4]

Lorenz Oken, a German naturalist, first formally described the genus Pterois in 1817.[5] The Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean constitute the native range for lionfish.[6] Lionfish occupy shallow coral reef edges, lagoons, rocky areas, and mesophotic reef environments.[6] Peak feeding activity for lionfish occurs during morning hours; they employ specialized swim bladder musculature to achieve fine-scale positioning within the water column.[4]

What the specialist sources record

The National Geographic account states that the venom of the red lionfish is delivered via an array of up to 18 needle-like dorsal fins and is purely defensive.[7] The NOAA Fisheries account explains that lionfish have become the poster child for invasive species issues in the western north Atlantic region.[8] The NOAA Fisheries account also states that lionfish were first detected along Florida coasts in the mid-1980s.[8] A Popular Science article reports that a remotely operated vehicle using a harpoon gun is designed to hunt lionfish lurking below the water's surface.[9]

A Phys.org article notes that as of July 2014, there are no known cases of ciguatera from eating lionfish.[10] According to the National Ocean Service (part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), lionfish are carnivorous fish whose native range is the Indo-Pacific, and they have become an invasive species in Atlantic waters.[11] The National Ocean Service (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) states that a mature female lionfish releases approximately two million eggs each year.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Lionfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: National Geographic, "Lionfish", 11 April 2010; Whitfield, "Abundance estimates of the Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans/miles complex in the Western North Atlantic", Biological Invasions, 2007, p. 53–64 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Lionfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: National Geographic, "Lionfish", 11 April 2010; Merrington, "Lionfish invading the Mediterranean Sea", Plymouth University, 28 June 2016; "Invasive Lionfish Arrive in the Mediterranean", Scientific American, 28 June 2016; Kletou, "A lionfish (Pterois miles) invasion has begun in the Mediterranean Sea", Marine Biodiversity Records, 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Lionfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "What is a lionfish?", National Ocean Service, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 16 June 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Lionfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Morris Jr., "Feeding ecology of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) in the Bahamian archipelago", Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2009, p. 389–398; Morris Jr., "Feeding ecology of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) in the Bahamian archipelago", Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2009, p. 389–398; Lee, "Video: Huffing and Puffing For Dinner", ScienceNOW, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Lionfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; Gilbert Whitley, "Ichthyological genotypes: Desmarest's designations, 1874", Australian Zoologist, 1939, p. 222–226 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Lionfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dahl, "Movement, home range, and depredation of invasive lionfish revealed by fine-scale acoustic telemetry in the northern Gulf of Mexico", Marine Biology, 4 July 2020, p. 111; Schultz, "Pterois volitans and Pterois miles: Two valid species", Copeia, 1986, p. 686–690; Myers, R.F. (1991): Micronesian Reef Fishes, Second Edition. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. p. 298.; Andradi-Brown, "Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems", Springer International Publishing, 2019, p. 931–941; Gress, "Lionfish (Pterois spp.) invade the upper-bathyal zone in the western en.wikipedia.org
  7. National Geographic, "Lionfish", 11 April 2010. facts only, no text reused. animals.nationalgeographic.com
  8. "Impacts of Invasive Lionfish", NOAA Fisheries, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 29 July 2022. facts only, no text reused. fisheries.noaa.gov
  9. Watson, "This harpoon-throwing robot is designed to hunt destructive lionfish", Popular Science, 17 January 2020. facts only, no text reused. popsci.com
  10. "Invasive lionfish likely safe to eat after all", Phys.org, 1 August 2014. facts only, no text reused. phys.org
  11. "What is a lionfish?", National Ocean Service, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 16 June 2024. facts only, no text reused. oceanservice.noaa.gov

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Lionfish (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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