The Invasive Lionfish

The Invasive Lionfish

  • Submitted By: amberstar
  • Date Submitted: 09/05/2013 12:19 PM
  • Category: Science
  • Words: 1526
  • Page: 7
  • Views: 2

The Invasive Lionfish
Lionfish, scientifically known as Pterois is a tropical fish that is a common attraction throughout saltwater aquariums (Invasive, 2012). Lionfish are rare to see and look much different than most fish. Many people find Lionfish interesting and mystical. This is the reason they are found in many saltwater aquariums. Lionfish are traditionally located in the Indian and Southern Pacific Oceans (Lionfish biology fact sheet, 2011). There has been a recent invasion of Lionfish located off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Islands. The Caribbean and East Coast will continue to be invaded by the resilient lionfish.
The Lionfish is a very interesting creature. It is a member of the Scorpion fish family (Robins). It looks different than almost any other fish in the ocean. It has an intimidating appearance and it uses this appearance as a tactic to scare off other animals. Lionfish can be easily identified by its red, white and brown striped colors. They are also identified by the spines that are sticking out of their backs and the numerous fins they have. Most species of Lionfish have multiple head spines (Schofield, 2009). Multiple venomous spines are also located down the dorsal fin with the anal fin also containing normally three venomous spines (Schofield, 2009). Many Lionfish look the same but there is about 500 different species of Lionfish (Schofield, 2009). Lionfish on average tend to live up to 15 years old and weigh just less than three pounds (Godin & Peterson, n.d.).
Lionfish are traditionally located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Invasive, 2012). The Lionfish has most recently begun to be spotted throughout the East Coast of the United States and throughout the Caribbean Islands (Invasive, 2012). Most people believe that lionfish were introduced to the Atlantic Ocean after six lionfish escaped into the wild during a hurricane in 1992 (Predators, n.d.). Lionfish are also thought to be transported to the...

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