All about the Lionfish

The lionfish is a fish of many names, including the turkeyfish, the dragonfish, and even the butterfly cod. It dwells in the central Pacific and western bodies of water. This fish is a warm water fish that can be extremely poisonous. They are a spiky looking fish that will prey on smaller fish every chance they get. Don't let this downsize the poisonous feature of the fish, as they can still use this poison to take down much larger prey as well.

This particular kind of fish is best kept alone in larger tanks, although you still find people that like to keep them in aquariums too. They don't do well around other smaller fish. This amazing creature can live up to sixteen years if they are looked after correctly or just have a long life in the wild.

Dealing With Prey

The lionfish is among many predators that like to use the element of surprise in the sea. They are able to camouflage themselves in a bed of reef and coral. Then they surprise their prey when they are not expecting it. They eventually swallow the prey whole, but they like to trap the prey first before doing so.

They are not real picky either when it comes to which small fish or crustacean that they eat, or whatever else inhabits the tropical reefs. You don't find many sea animals that are willing to pursue the lionfish because of the size and the fact that they look quite intimidating with their spikes. You will find that the spikes are what actually carry the venom itself. They use these spikes when they feel threatened and need to defend themselves. Eels and humans are two of the predators that do take on the task of obtaining lionfish.

More Information About Them

They like to keep to themselves most of the time, although you will find that they obviously have to come together to mate. Other than that though, you won't find them together very often. There is usually only a few of them in a particular area. A few female and one male fish make up the lionfish group, so that the male can mate. They are also extremely territorial over the area that they and their group is living in.

As far as recognized species go, there are eight of them currently. They are almost always going to be found on the waters of coast regions, embedded in the coral and the reef that lay below the water. They embed themselves that deep so that they can easily catch small prey or escape from predators too.

Females release eggs in to the water, which will then be fertilized by the males. They can release anywhere from two thousand to sixteen thousand eggs. The only problem is that predators like to eat the eggs if they see them. Thus, the mating pair will have to hurry and complete the process in time to hide again. It only takes two days for those eggs to then become hatched eggs. They float on the top of the sea until they are an inch big, then they proceed to swim down to meet the rest of the clan.

It is crazy to think that this kind of a fish could be an invasive species, but that is the case. They were used in Florida as an aquarium fish, and then later the hurricane came through and then the species was spotted on the coast. Before they knew it, they were all of the way up to the New York coast too.