Stars - Animals Wallpapers - Photos: 2009-09-13

A Lionfish is any of several species of venomous marine fish in the genera Pterois, Parapterois, Brachypterois, Ebosia or Dendrochirus, of the family Scorpaenidae. The lionfish is also known as the Turkey Fish, Dragon Fish, Scorpion or Fire Fish.They are notable for their extremely long and separated spines, and have a generally striped appearance, red, green, navy green, brown, orange, yellow, black, maroon, or white.

Feeding:
Lionfish are voracious predators. However, they do not use their spines to capture prey; only for protection. When hunting, they corner prey using their large fins and then use their quick reflexes to swallow the prey whole. They hunt primarily from late afternoon to dawn. In captivity, lionfish can be trained to eat frozen brine shrimp, mysis, and krill.

Size:
There are many types of lionfish that vary in size. The common lionfish generally reaches a size of 30 cm to 35 cm (12 inches), while smaller lionfish, like the Fuzzy Dwarf, are typically the size of a tennis ball, not including fins. In the Caribbean where lionfish aren't native, they grow to a size of up to 55 cm.