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    Lionfish - Britannica Online Encyclopedia

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    The red lionfish is a venomous reef fish native to the South Pacific that has become an invasive species along the Eastern US coast. It reproduces rapidly, has no natural predators in its invaded regions, and has decimated local reef fish populations. It is believed red lionfish were deliberately or accidentally released off Florida in the 1980s/90s and have since spread widely in the Atlantic and Caribbean, joined by another invasive lionfish species from the Indian Ocean. Their venomous spines can puncture skin and cause painful wounds.

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    Lionfish - Britannica Online Encyclopedia

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    The red lionfish is a venomous reef fish native to the South Pacific that has become an invasive species along the Eastern US coast. It reproduces rapidly, has no natural predators in its invaded regions, and has decimated local reef fish populations. It is believed red lionfish were deliberately or accidentally released off Florida in the 1980s/90s and have since spread widely in the Atlantic and Caribbean, joined by another invasive lionfish species from the Indian Ocean. Their venomous spines can puncture skin and cause painful wounds.

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    lionfish -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

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    The red lionfish is a venomous reef fish native to the South Pacific that has become an invasive species along the Eastern US coast. It reproduces rapidly, has no natural predators in its invaded regions, and has decimated local reef fish populations. It is believed red lionfish were deliberately or accidentally released off Florida in the 1980s/90s and have since spread widely in the Atlantic and Caribbean, joined by another invasive lionfish species from the Indian Ocean. Their venomous spines can puncture skin and cause painful wounds.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    5 views2 pages

    Lionfish - Britannica Online Encyclopedia

    Uploaded by

    Variedades Jade
    The red lionfish is a venomous reef fish native to the South Pacific that has become an invasive species along the Eastern US coast. It reproduces rapidly, has no natural predators in its invaded regions, and has decimated local reef fish populations. It is believed red lionfish were deliberately or accidentally released off Florida in the 1980s/90s and have since spread widely in the Atlantic and Caribbean, joined by another invasive lionfish species from the Indian Ocean. Their venomous spines can puncture skin and cause painful wounds.

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    9/18/23, 4:25 PM lionfish -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

    lionfish
    lionfish, (Pterois), also spelled lion fish or
    lion-fish, also called turkey fish or fire-fish,
    any of several species of showy Indo-Pacific
    fishes of the scorpion fish family,
    lion-fish Scorpaenidae (order Scorpaeniformes).
    Lionfish are noted for their venomous fin
    spines, which are capable of producing painful, though rarely fatal,
    puncture wounds. The fishes have enlarged pectoral fins and elongated
    dorsal fin spines, and each species bears a particular pattern of bold,
    zebralike stripes. When disturbed, the fish spread and display their fins and,
    if further pressed, will present and attack with the dorsal spines.

    One of the best-known species is the red


    lionfish (Pterois volitans), an impressive fish
    sometimes kept by fish fanciers. It is striped
    with red, brown, and white and grows to
    red lionfish about 30 cm (12 inches) long. The red
    lionfish is native to South Pacific reef
    ecosystems.

    In the early 21st century the red lionfish

    red lionfish
    became established in reef ecosystems along
    the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, in
    the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Caribbean
    Sea. Its rapid rate of reproduction, combined
    with the absence of natural enemies in those
    https://www.britannica.com/print/article/342693 1/2
    9/18/23, 4:25 PM lionfish -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

    regions, resulted in its decimation of local


    reef fishes and its designation as an invasive
    species. Wildlife managers suspect that
    lionfish were deliberately released by pet
    red lionfish owners into the ocean along Florida’s
    Atlantic coast starting in the 1980s, but damage to pet stores caused by
    Hurricane Andrew in 1992 may have also allowed others to escape.

    These western Atlantic habitats were also


    invaded by another lionfish species, Miles’
    firefish (P. miles; also called the devil
    firefish). Miles’ firefish is native to the Indian
    lionfish Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf, but
    by 2016 it had also established at least one
    breeding population along the southern coast of Cyprus. Scientists suspect
    that the species entered the Mediterranean basin through the Suez Canal.

    Several smaller Indo-Pacific scorpaenids of the genus Dendrochirus, such


    as the greenish to pinkish D. barberi of Hawaii and the reddish D. zebra of
    the Indian and Pacific oceans, are also considered lionfish by some sources.
    This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.

    Citation Information
    Article Title: lionfish
    Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
    Date Published: 14 July 2023
    URL: https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/animal/lionfish
    Access Date: September 18, 2023

    https://www.britannica.com/print/article/342693 2/2

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