Pterois volitans

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Family : Scorpionfishes or rockfishes ; Hunts small fishes , shrimps, and crabs at night, using its widespread pectorals trapping prey into a corner, stunning it and then swallowing it in one sweep . Dorsal spines are venomous ; the sting can be treated by heating the afflicted part and application of corticoids[1]. A popular table fish .

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Inhabits lagoon and seaward reefs from turbid inshore areas to depths of 50 m. Hides in unexposed places at daytime often with head down and practically immobile. Pelagic juveniles expatriate over great distances and the reason for their broad geographical range (Ref. 48635).

Typically found in water with a depth of 0 to -6,737 meters (0 to -22,103 feet).[2]

Biome: Marine .

Biology

Diet

Lionfish hunt at night for small fish, shrimp and crab.

Reproduction

Male lionfish initiate courtship and spawning shortly before dark. The mating ritual begins when the male visits receptive females. When the fish are ready to spawn , they swim near the water's surface with the male positioned under the female. He pushes her upward with his head and nips at the white skin flaps on her chin. The female then releases two egg balls that the male fertilizes. The eggs hatch in as little as 36 hours. The larvae measure just over 1 mm at hatching . They begin feeding four or five days later, when they are about 2 mm in length .

Behavior

These fish can give painful and venomous stings using long separated spines located in their fins .

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Gasterosteus volitans • Gasterosteus volitans Linnaeus • Gasterosteus volitans Linnaeus, 1758 • Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: Data last modified by FishBase 08-Aug-1994

Similar Species

Members of the genus Pterois

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 15 species and subspecies in this genus:

P. antennata (Ragged-Finned Scorpionfish) · P. barberi (Hawaiian Lionfish) · P. brachyptera (Shortspined Butterfly-Cod) · P. heterurus (Frillfin Turkeyfish) · P. kodipungi (Clearfin Lionfish) · P. lunulata (Dragon's Beard Fish) · P. miles (Indian Turkeyfish) · P. mombasae (Frillfin Turkeyfish) · P. nigripinnis (Spotless Butterfly-Cod) · P. radiata (White-Lined Lionfish) · P. russelii (Spotless Butterfly-Cod) · P. russellii (Spotless Butterfly-Cod) · P. sphex (Hawaiian Turkeyfish) · P. volitans (Ornate Butterfly-Cod) · P. zebra (Zebra Turkeyfish)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A bibliography of fishes, by Bashford Dean. .. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1916-1923. url p. 279, p. 279.
• An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Chagos Archipelago, Central Indian Ocean / Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1989. url p. 20.
• Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Madrid: La Sociedad, url p. 197, p. 197.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. url p. 479.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 17, p. 170, p. 170, p. 172, p. 23.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 243.
• Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Print. Off., 1905-1950. url p. 103, p. 103, p. 372, p. 379.
• Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences Los Angeles, Calif.: The Academy, 1971- url .
• Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum / by Albert Gu?nther. .. [Tokyo?]: Kagaku Kisho Hakkokai, Sho?wa 13 [1938]. url p. 122, p. 520.
• Catalogue of the fishes in the. .. Museum / by A. Günther London, 1860. url p. 122, p. 125, p. 520.
• Ceylon: an account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical with notices of its natural history, antiquities and productions / by Sir James Emerson Tennent. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860. url p. 225.
• Ceylon; an account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical, with notices of its natural history, antiquities and productions, by Sir James Emerson Tennent. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860. url p. 225.
• Check list of the fishes and fish-like animals of New South Wales. SydneyRoyal Zoological Society of New South Wales1922 url .
• Check-list of species of fishes known from the PhilippineArchipelago, by David Starr Jordan and Robert Earl Richardson. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1910. url p. 52.
• Check-list of the species of fishes known from the Philippine Archipelago, Manila, Bureau of printing, 1910. url p. 52.
• Current bibliography for aquatic sciences and fisheries. London, Taylor & Francis ltd. url p. 145.
• Dahlak: with the Italian National Underwater Expedition in the Red Sea, by Gianni Roghi and Francesco Baschieri. Translated from the Italian by Priscilla Hastings. Edited by Eleanor Brochett. With 11 full colour and 40 monochrome photos. Fair Lawn, N.J.Essential books1957 url p. 151, p. 273.
• Dangerous marine animals. Cambridge, Md., Cornell Maritime Press, 1959. url p. 143, p. 74, p. 76.
• Dean bibliography of fishes. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1971-1973. url p. 299, p. 683, p. 732.
• Descriptive catalogue of the specimens of natural history in spirit contained in the Museum of the Royal college of surgeons of England. Vertebrata: Pisces, Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia. London, Taylor and Francis, 1859. url p. 27.
• Elements of natural history, adapted to the present state of the science, containing the generic characters of nearly the whole animal kingdom, and the descriptions of the principal species. By John Stark. .. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood; [etc., etc.], 1828. url p. 461.
• Fish and fisheries of New South Wales. Sydney, T. Richards, 1882. url .
• Fishery bulletin / U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service: url p. 616, p. 670.
• Fishes of Australia: a popular and systematic guide to the study of the wealth within our waters, by David G. Stead. With ten full-page plates and eighty-eight illustrations in the text Sydney, W. Brooks & Co., 1906 url p. 275.
• Fishes of Guam, Hawaii, Samoa, and Tahiti. Honolulu, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 1925. url p. 11.
• Fishes of Zanzibar: Acanthopterygii / by R. Lambert Playfair; Pharyngognathi etc. / by Albert C. L. G. Günther. London: J. Van Voorst, 1866. url p. 48.
• Fishes of the Philippine Islands / by Barton Warren Evermann and Alvin Seale. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Print. Off., 1907. url .
• Fishes of the world, by Edouard Le Danois, with the collaboration of Jacques Millot, Theodore Monod [and] Paul Budker. With 80 photogravure plates, 30 colour photos., and text illus. Woodstock, Vt., Countryman Press[1957] url p. 118, p. 188.
• Guide to the Galleries of Reptiles and fishes [London]: BM(NH), 1898 url p. 62.
• Guide to the galleries of reptiles and fishes in the Department of zoology of the British museum (Natural history) Illustrated by 101 woodcuts. [London]The Trustees, 1898. url , p. 62.
• Handbook of zoology / by J. van der Hoeven. Cambridge: University Press, 1856-1858. url p. 185.
• IUCN Directory of Protected Areas in Oceania IUCN url p. 412, p. 445.
• Index to volume I, numbers 1 to 17. 1 1900 Chicago: Field Columbian Museum, 1900. url p. 322.
• Jenaische Zeitschrift für Naturwissenschaft. Jena, Gustav Fischer [etc.]. url p. 441.
• Lord Howe Island. Its zoology, geology, and physical characters. Printed by order of the trustees, E. P. Ramsay, curator. Sydney, C. Potter, government printer, 1889. url p. 19, p. 21.
• Manual of human and comparative histology / edited by S. Stricker, assisted by J. Arnold [et al.]; translated by Henry Power London: The New Sydenham Society, 1870-1873 url p. 122.
• Marine investigations in South Africa / Cape of Good Hope Dept. of Agriculture. Cape Town: W.A. Richards & Sons, [1900?- url p. 119, p. 119.
• Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge [Mass.]: The Museum, 1876-1940. url , p. 315.
• Memoirs: Australian Museum. Sydney: The Museum, 1851- url p. 19, p. 21, p. 21.
• NOAA technical report NMFS SSRF. Seattle, Wash.: National Marine Fisheries Service; url p. 10, p. 6.
• Oceanus. Woods Hole, Mass., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution url p. 72.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia url p. 304, p. 304, p. 82, p. 82.
• Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London. [London]: Printed for the Society by Richard Taylor, [1831-1832] url p. 128, p. 128.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url , , p. 248, p. 278, p. 361, p. 435, p. 457, p. 81.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 142, p. 503, p. 762, p. 9.
• Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. London: Academic Press, [etc.], 1833-1965. url p. 17, p. 659, p. 659, p. 686.
• Records of the Australian Museum. Sydney: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1890- url p. 209, p. 230.
• Revue méthodique et critique des collections déposées dans cet établissement. Leyden, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie. url p. 45.
• Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon: with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c.: including a monograph of the elephant and a description of the modes of by Sir J. Emerson Tennent. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1868 url , p. 334, p. 360, p. 497.
• The Bulletin of zoological nomenclature. London, International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. url p. 250, p. 251.
• The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Bombay: The Society, url p. 604.
• The animal kingdom, arranged according to its organization, serving as a foundation for the natural history of animals: and an introduction to comparative anatomy / Baron Cuvier. London, G. Henderson, 1834-37. url .
• The fishery resources of the Philippine Islands with descriptions of new species / Manila?: s.n., ca. 1909 - ca. 1912 url , .
• The fishes of India: being a natural history of the fishes known to inhabit the seas and fresh waters of India, Burma and Ceylon / by Francis Day. London: B. Quaritch, [1875]-1878. url , p. 152, p. 154.
• The fishes of Malabar / by Francis Day. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1865. url p. 38, p. 40.
• The fishes of Samoa. Description of the species found in the Archipelago, with a provisional check-list of the fishes of Oceania. [By David Starr Jordan and Alvin Seale]. .. 1906 Washington, Government print off., 1906. url p. 379.
• The fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. .. by Dr. Max Weber. .. and Dr. L.F. de Beaufort. Leiden, E.J. Brill, Ltd., 1911- url p. 180, p. 332, p. 356.
• The new natural history, by Richard Lydekker. .. and R. Bowdler Sharpe, H.A. MacPherson, F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, W.R. Ogilvie Grant, C.J. Gahan, F.A. Bather, Edgar A. Smith, R.I. Pocock, M. Bernard, H. Bernard and R. Kirkpatr New York, Merrill and Baker[189-?] url p. 351.
• The royal natural history / edited by Richard Lydekker; with preface by P.L. Sclater; illustrated with seventy-two coloured plates and sixteen hundred engravings by W. Kuhnert. .. [et al.]. London: F. Warne, 1893-1896. url p. 351.
• The royal natural history. With pref. by P. L. Sclater. Illustrated with 72 col. plates and 1600 engravings. London, F. Warne, 1893-96. url p. 351.
• The shore fishes / by William C. Kendall and Edmund L. Goldsborough. 26 1911 Cambridge, U.S.A.: Printed for the Museum, 1911. url p. 315, p. 342.
• The tropical world: a popular scientific account of the natural history of the animal and vegetable kingdoms in the equatorial regions. LondonLongman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green1863 url p. 306, p. 550.
• The tropical world: aspects of man and nature in the equatorial regions of the globe. LondonLongmans, Green1873 url p. 271, p. 551.
• The vertebrate eye and its adaptive radiation [by] Gordon Lynn Walls. Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Cranbrook Institute of Science, 1942 url p. 546.
• Transactions and proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. Wellington: New Zealand Institute. url p. 379.
• World Atlas of Coral Reefs UNEP-WCMC url p. 289.
• Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Anatomie und Ontogenie der Tiere Jena [Germany]:G. Fischer, c -1993. url p. 532.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 15, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, CSIRO Marine Data Warehouse
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, South Western Pacific Regional OBIS Data All Sea Bio Subset
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, iziko South African Museum - Fish Collection
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Vertebrate specimens
• Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Ichtyologie
• National Chemical Laboratory, IndOBIS, Indian Ocean Node of OBIS
• OZCAM
• Provider, Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
• Royal Ontario Museum, Fish specimens
• Senckenberg, Collection Pisces

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 136845
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-25511
• Fishbase Species ID: 5195
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13850536
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 166883
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 100755

Footnotes

1. Cornic, A. (1987). Poissons de l'Ile Maurice. Editions de l'Océan Indien, Stanley Rose Hill, Ile Maurice. 335 p. [back]
2. Mean = -520.230 meters (-1,706.791 feet), Standard Deviation = 1,207.520 based on 629 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.