---
title: "What the sources say about the Red Lionfish | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "45 claims from the Red Lionfish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Red Lionfish (*Pterois volitans*)

> 45 claims from the Red Lionfish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Red Lionfish](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/red-lionfish/)

## Motomura & Matsuura (2016). Pterois volitans. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T190468A78940195.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-3.rlts.t190468a78940195.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: GBIF copy of the Red List, taxon 190468) |

## Peterson & McHenry (2022). The persistent-predation strategy of the red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1085

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Swims at half its prey's speed and still wins six lab chases in ten. | Despite swimming about half as fast as C. viridis , lionfish succeeded in capturing prey in 61% of our experiments. (note: tagline; laboratory result) |
| it chased a faster fish at about half its speed and caught it in 61% of lab trials | Despite swimming about half as fast as C. viridis , lionfish succeeded in capturing prey in 61% of our experiments. (note: stats.superpower) |
| The persistent-predation strategy | These characteristics comprise a behaviour that we call the 'persistent-predation strategy' (note: stats.superpower) |
| In a laboratory study, red lionfish chased a faster prey fish, Chromis viridis, while swimming about half as fast, and still captured it in 61% of experiments. | Using kinematic measurements, we considered the strategy of red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ) as they pursued a faster prey fish ( Chromis viridis ) under laboratory conditions. Despite swimming about half as fast as C. viridis , lionfish succeeded in capturing prey in 61% of our experiments. |
| The prey swam in fits and starts, slowing down at times, and those slow spells let the lionfish close in. | C. viridis moved intermittently with variation in speed that included slow swimming. Such periods allowed lionfish to close the distance to a prey |
| Once it was less than 9 cm away it fired a suction-feeding strike | initiate a suction-feeding strike at a relatively close distance (less than 9 cm) |
| 74% of those strikes worked | capturing prey in 74% of all strikes |
| The researchers named the trick the persistent-predation strategy. | These characteristics comprise a behaviour that we call the 'persistent-predation strategy' |
| In lab tests it kept swimming toward its prey without a break, while the prey's speed rose and fell. | lionfish pursued prey with uninterrupted motion. By contrast, C. viridis moved intermittently with variation in speed that included slow swimming (note: faq) |
| about three strikes in four succeeded | capturing prey in 74% of all strikes (note: faq) |
| When a slow spell brought it within 9 cm, it struck | Such periods allowed lionfish to close the distance to a prey and initiate a suction-feeding strike at a relatively close distance (less than 9 cm) (note: faq) |
| Part of the trick is steady motion. | Second, lionfish pursued prey with uninterrupted motion. (note: body) |
| The lionfish kept heading for where the prey was, not where it was going, and kept moving without a break. | lionfish targeted C. viridis with pure pursuit by adjusting their heading towards the prey's position and not the anticipated point of interception. Second, lionfish pursued prey with uninterrupted motion. (note: body) |
| Biologists were unsure how a predator in plain sight could catch prey faster than itself. | it is unclear how a pursuit can be effective when the prey is faster than a non-cryptic predator (note: body; non-cryptic = in plain sight) |
| In lab chases the red lionfish caught faster prey | Using kinematic measurements, we considered the strategy of red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ) as they pursued a faster prey fish ( Chromis viridis ) under laboratory conditions. (note: vibe.reason) |
| it kept heading for the target without a break while the prey sped up and slowed down | lionfish pursued prey with uninterrupted motion. By contrast, C. viridis moved intermittently with variation in speed that included slow swimming (note: vibe.reason) |

## Green et al. (2012). Invasive Lionfish Drive Atlantic Coral Reef Fish Declines. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032596

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| they were first reported off southeast Florida in the 1980s | Lionfish were first reported off the southeast coast of Florida in the 1980s (note: P. volitans and P. miles) |
| Two Indo-Pacific lionfish, P. volitans and P. miles, have spread across the western Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico | Indo-Pacific lionfish ( Pterois volitans and P. miles ) have spread rapidly across the Western Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico |
| On nine Bahamas reefs, as lionfish multiplied, the fish species they ate lost 65% of their combined biomass in two years. | The increase in lionfish abundance coincided with a 65% decline in the biomass of the lionfish's 42 Atlantic prey fishes in just two years. (note: lionfish = P. volitans and P. miles; 2008 to 2010) |
| Between 2008 and 2010, while lionfish numbers rose, the combined biomass of the 42 fish species lionfish ate there fell by 65% on average. | Between 2008 and 2010, the combined biomass of these 42 species declined by 65%, on average, across the study reefs (note: faq; nine reefs from abstract) |
| Green and colleagues surveyed nine coral reefs off New Providence Island in the Bahamas. | nine coral reefs off New Providence Island (note: faq) |
| On nine Bahamas reefs | nine coral reefs off New Providence Island, Bahamas (note: body) |
| the 42 fish species lionfish ate there | Ninety percent of the prey consumed by lionfish were small-bodied reef fishes from 42 species (note: faq) |
| while lionfish numbers rose | Lionfish abundance increased rapidly between 2004 and 2010 (note: faq) |

## Pterois volitans summary page. FishBase.

https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Pterois-volitans.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Indo-Pacific reefs, 2 to 55 m deep; invasive in the western Atlantic | Marine; reef-associated; depth range 2 - 55 m (note: stats.habitat) |
| Small fishes, shrimps and crabs | Hunt small fishes, shrimps, and crabs at night (note: stats.diet) |
| it also uses its wide pectoral fins to trap prey in a corner, then swallows it in one sweep | using its widespread pectorals trapping prey into a corner, stunning it and then swallowing it in one sweep |
| It carries 13 dorsal spines | Dorsal spines (total): 13 |
| The maximum published length is 45.7 cm total length (snout to the tip of the tail), the maximum published weight is 1.4 kg, and the maximum reported age is 10 years. | Max length : 45.7 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 118189 ); max. published weight: 1.4 kg (Ref. 118189 ); max. reported age: 10 years (Ref. 72479 ) (note: total length glossed by the writer (standard definition, not on the page)) |
| Its home range runs from Western Australia and the Cocos-Keeling Islands east to the Marquesas, and north to southern Japan and southern Korea. | Cocos-Keeling Islands and Western Australia (Ref. 27362 ) in the eastern Indian Ocean to the Marquesas and Oeno (Pitcairn group), north to southern Japan and southern Korea |
| It lives on reefs from 2 to 55 m deep. | Marine; reef-associated; depth range 2 - 55 m |
| By day it hides in unexposed spots, often head down and almost motionless, and it hunts at night. | they hide in unexposed places at daytime often with head down and practically immobile |
| it hunts at night | Hunt small fishes, shrimps, and crabs at night |
| FishBase lists a maximum of 45.7 cm total length and a maximum published weight of 1.4 kg. | Max length : 45.7 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 118189 ); max. published weight: 1.4 kg (note: faq) |
| The maximum age FishBase reports is 10 years. | max. reported age: 10 years (note: faq) |

## Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans). Florida Museum of Natural History, Discover Fishes.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/pterois-volitans/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| It eats small fishes, shrimps and crabs. | The red lionfish is a solitary predator of small fishes, shrimps and crabs. |
| The red lionfish varies a lot in appearance, but it is basically zebra-banded in red and white | The red lionfish is highly variable in appearance but is basically zebra-banded in red and white |
| venom glands sit at the base of certain fin spines. A stab from one can inject the toxins | Venom glands at the base of certain fin spines produce a number of toxins (collectively “venom”) that are injected in a potential predator via the spines. |
| the venom is known to cause a severe reaction in humans | is known to cause a severe reaction in humans |
| Spines on the dorsal, anal and pelvic fins can deliver the venom. | The venom of the red lionfish may be delivered by spines of the dorsal, anal and pelvic fins |

## What is a lionfish? NOAA National Ocean Service.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lionfish-facts.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| invasive in the western Atlantic | The lionfish is a carnivorous fish native to the Indo-Pacific that is now an invasive species in the Atlantic . (note: stats.habitat) |
| NOAA says lionfish rely on their unusual colours and fins to put off predators | they must rely on their unusual coloration and fins to discourage would-be predators from eating them (note: lionfish = P. volitans and P. miles) |
| NOAA says lionfish, popular aquarium fish, were possibly released into the Atlantic on purpose | Lionfish are a popular marine ornamental fish and were possibly intentionally released into the Atlantic. (note: lionfish = P. volitans and P. miles) |
| a mature female lionfish sheds about two million eggs each year | a mature female releases roughly two million eggs a year |