Lionfish

Pterois volitans

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–39 m
Water temperature20–29 °C
Best monthsJune, August, and September
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Jens Petersen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The red lionfish is a venomous coral reef fish in the family Scorpaenidae, order Scorpaeniformes. It is mainly native to the Indo-Pacific region, but has become an invasive species in the Caribbean Sea, as well as along the East Coast of the United States and East Mediterranean and also found in Brazil at Fernando de Noronha.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Red lionfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 713 records
February: 569 records
March: 779 records
April: 723 records
May: 884 records
June: 940 records
July: 923 records
August: 953 records
September: 1,023 records
October: 864 records
November: 681 records
December: 723 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–39 m · Deepest record: 159 m

0–10 m: 585 records
10–20 m: 819 records
20–30 m: 472 records
30–40 m: 307 records
40–50 m: 55 records
50–60 m: 51 records
60–70 m: 37 records
70–80 m: 16 records
80–90 m: 9 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110+ m: 5 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 51 records
22–24 °C: 12 records
24–26 °C: 5 records
26–28 °C: 248 records
28–30 °C: 57 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pierre Pericard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Carlos Domínguez-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lexi Amico, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) CH Hemphill, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Lionfish, Red lionfish, Turkeyfish, Butterfly-cod, Butterfly Cod, Common Lionfish, Featherfins, firefish, lionfish, Lionfish, Red lionfish, ornate butterfly-cod, Peacock Lionfish, red firefish, red lionfish, Red Lionfish, Scorpion-cod, Scorpion Volitans, turkeyfish, Turkey-fish, zebrafish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Eigentlicher Rotfeuerfisch, Pazifischer Rotfeuerfisch
Spanish: Pez león, Pez león asiático, Pez león colorado
French: Laffe Volant, Poisson-dindon, Poisson lion, Poisson Scorpion, Poisson Volant, Rascasse volante, Rascasse volante du Pacifique, Rascasse volante, Laffe volant, Poisson scorpion, Poisson volant, Poisson-dindon, Poisson de feu
Japanese: Hana-minokasago, Hanaminokasago, Ominokasago, ハナミノカサゴ
Korean: 점쏠배감펭
Thai: ปลาสิงโตแดง, ปลาสิงโตปีก
Simplified Chinese: 國公, 火烘, 獅子魚, 石狗敢, 石頭魚, 紅虎, 翱翔蓑鮋, 虎魚, 長獅, 雞公, 魔鬼, 魔鬼簑鮋

Other scientific names: Gasterosteus volitans

Similar species

Spotted coral croucher
Caracanthus maculatus
Pygmy coral croucher
Caracanthus unipinna
Zebra turkeyfish
Dendrochirus zebra
Guam scorpionfish
Scorpaenodes guamensis
Nemapterois biocellatus
Neochirus brachyptera

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
12,942 open-data records from 1758 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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