#2270 · 🐟 fish

Common Lionfish

🇳🇱 Gewone koraalduivel ·Pterois volitans

LCleast concern 🐟 Fish 📍 outside Europe

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ) is a venomous coral reef fish in the family Scorpaenidae, order Scorpaeniformes. P. volitans is natively found in the Indo-Pacific region, but has become an invasive problem in the Caribbean Sea, as well as along the East Coast of the United States. This and a similar species, Pterois miles , have both been deemed as invasive species. Red lionfish are clad in white stripes alternated with red/maroon/brown stripes. Adults in this species...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 8,853iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
8,853 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).