Facts About Lionfish

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800px-Red_lionfish_near_Gilli_Banta_Island

Lionfish is a special type of marine creature that is mostly seen in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. It can also be kept in an aquarium to enhance the ambience of your home.

Fact 1 Where do Lionfish Live

Lionfish are mostly found in the rocky crevices and reefs of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. They also live in other warm ocean waters around the world. It is known by different names such as dragon fish, turkey fish, scorpion fish and tiger fish. They can adapt themselves to all kinds of weather and surroundings and so their reproduction rate is quite high and stable too. The areas where there are smaller fish, crevices and reefs, those places abound in Lionfish so that they do not have any problem of finding food or hiding themselves.

Fact 2 Description

There are about 10 varieties of Lionfish that live in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. They vary in sizes. The average fish is about 1 foot. It depends on the species. The smallest is only 2 inches while the largest fish found is about 16 inches long. Their average weight is between 1 to 2 pounds. Lionfish are very attractive and have colorful bodies. The red, orange, black, brown and white stripes on their bodies resemble zebra pattern and so they have different names namely tiger fish, dragon fish, etc. Another interesting feature of lionfish is their pectoral feathery fins. These fins help them to attract the smaller creatures that they eat and at the same time help them to stay safe from their predators and enemies. This species of fish have about 13 to 18 spines that are venomous on their backs which they use only as protection against enemies and not for hunting.

Fact 3 Food Habits

Lionfish are carnivores and mostly live on different types of crustaceans and fish that they get easily in their habitat. They have large mouths and so swallow their prey in one gulp. Like cannibals, when supply of food becomes scarce, they attack their own species that are smaller in size and eat them.

Fact 4 Features Of Lionfish

Lionfish are mostly kept in aquariums because of their unique colorful stripes that look really beautiful when placed in appropriate settings. However, they are eaten in some parts of the world. The spikes on their backs are poisonous especially the fish that are found in the western and central parts of the Pacific Ocean. They can turn out to be fatal for larger creatures also that eat them. It has been found that people also feel dizzy and experience breathing problems, vomiting and nausea and also a kind of pain after they come in contact with the venom of lionfish. Reports of deaths have not been reported till date and so lionfish is relished as a delicacy by some people.

Fact 5 Lionfish Population

Lionfish prefer to live in small groups that consist of a single male and few females. They together occupy a specific area and defend it as their own. A female lionfish can lay as many as 30,000 eggs every 7 days and so their population s at a tremendous rate. They are forced to occupy new areas thus outnumbering the original marine creatures of that area. The fertilized eggs hatch within 2 days and the fry, as the babies are called, swim up to the water surface and grow there till they are about 1 inch long. Their life span is between 5 and 15 years especially if they live in their natural habitats. They hunt mostly during the day.

Fact 6

The increase in the population of lionfish is considered as environmentally dangerous in the United States. Although they are kept in aquariums, lionfish grow well in large spacious tanks.

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