Red lionfish

Taxobox
name = Red lionfish

---

image_width = 225px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Scorpaeniformes
familia = Scorpaenidae
subfamilia = Pteroinae
genus = "Pterois"
species = "P. volitans"
binomial = "Pterois volitans"
binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1758

The red lionfish ("Pterois volitans") is a venomous coral reef fish from the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.ITIS|ID=166883|taxon="Pterois volitans"|year=2006|date=30 January] The red lionfish is also found off the east coast of the United States, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast in the early to mid-1990s. [cite journal |author=Whitfield, P; Gardner, T; Vives, SP; Gilligan, MR; Courtney Jr, WR; Ray, GC; Hare, JA |title=The Introduction and Dispersal of the Indo-Pacific Lionfish (Pterois volitans) Along the Atlantic Coast of North America. |journal=In: SF Norton (ed). Diving for Science...2003. |volume=Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences |issue=22nd Annual Scientific Diving Symposium |date=2003 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/4766 |accessdate=2008-08-13 ] By the summer of 2001, it was found along the Atlantic coast of the United States from Florida to Long Island, New York. The Caribbean is also suffering from an invasion, especially around the Bahamas.cite news
first = David
last = McFadden
url = http://www.newsweek.com/id/152553
title = Venomous lionfish prowls fragile Caribbean waters
work = Newsweek
date = 13 August 2008
accessdate = 2008-08-13]

Red lionfish have distinctive red, maroon, or brown and white stripes; fleshy tentacles above the eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fin; and long separated dorsal spines. Adults can grow as large as convert|17|in|cm, while juveniles may be as small as an inch or less. All of the spines on a lionfish are venomous, creating a danger primarily to divers and fishermen if stung. Although there have been no known fatalities caused by lionfish stings, they are reportedly extremely painful.

References

External links

* [http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=5195&genusname=Pterois&speciesname=volitans FishBase entry]
* [http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Pterois_volitans.html Pterois volitans] at "Animal Diversity Web"