Species: Pterois volitans, Turkeyfish, Red Lionfish, Red Firefish, Red Lionfish Scorpionfish

Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Red Lionfish, Red Firefish, Red Lionfish Scorpionfish, Turkeyfish

Body moderately compressed; head large and spiny, forehead profile steep; a long tentacle over eye; branched barbells under lower jaw; dorsal fin with very elongate spines (longer than body depth, much longer in juvenile), membranes deeply indented between spines such that most of each spine is free, with a broad featherlike membrane behind it, fin deeply notched between spines and rays, XIII, 11; pectoral fin long, reaching well past anal fin base, 13-15 unbranched rays; deeply indented membranes between rays; anal fin III, 6; body scaled, scales smooth.

Body pale red to whitish, with ~8 broad brown to blackish bars, each one separated by several thin dark bars; head with similar bars, those on rear of head diagonal and extending onto chest; fins with whitish tips.

Reaches 49 cm; 1.4 Kg. In our area lives up to ~7 years

Lives on reefs, usually in sheltered habitats, often in harbours. Found in caves during daylight hours.

Depth range: 2-304 m.

Its native range is the E Indian Ocean to the W and Central Pacific; introduced to Florida in the 1980s, now from New York to Brazil.

Note: P. volitans was recently (2017) shown to be a hybrid of P. miles, from the Indian Ocean and P. russelii from the west Pacific, and hence is not a valid species. In addition to P. volitans a small percentage of the Greater Caribbean population consists of P. miles, which is rare among the fish captured in Florida, and currently is known only from the eastern US.