Red Lionfish Stock Image

The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is the venomous coral reef fish from the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. The red lionfish is also found off the east coast of the United States, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast in the early to mid-1990s. By the summer of 2001, it was found along the Atlantic coast of the United States from Florida to Long Island, New York. The Caribbean is also suffering from an invasion, especially around the Bahamas. Red lionfish are clad in white stripes alternated with red, maroon, or brown. Adults can grow as large as 17 inches (43 cm) in length while juveniles may be shorter than 1 inch. The fish have fleshy tentacles which protrude from both above the eyes and below the mouth.