Japanese lionfish
| Japanese lionfish | ||||||||||||
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Japanese lionfish ( Pterois lunulata ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pterois lunulata | ||||||||||||
| Temminck & Schlegel , 1843 |
The Japanese lionfish ( Pterois lunulata ) is a member of the scorpion fish (Scorpaenidae). It lives from the coasts of southern China to Korea and Japan , possibly also in Indonesian waters and near New Caledonia and Mauritius . It mainly lives in open water over rocky reefs, sand and muddy soils at depths of 10 to 40 meters. The fish feed on smaller fish and crustaceans .
features
The Japanese lionfish is whitish and marked by many narrow and broad brown transverse bands. The ventral side is white and has no pattern. The pectoral fins are comparatively large. The first hard-rayed dorsal fin has 13 fin rays , which are provided with poison glands. The soft radiating parts of the dorsal and anal fin, as well as the caudal fin are transparent and only have dark spots in large adults. Japanese lionfish grow to be about 35 centimeters long. A characteristic to distinguish it from Pterois russellii are its clearly visible scales, all of which, including those in the dark bands, have a light center, so that the bands have a reticulate pattern. There are large V-shaped spots on the rays of the pectoral fins.
literature
- Bergbauer, Myers, Kirschner: The cosmos handbook dangerous marine animals . 2008, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-440-10945-8
Web links
- Japanese lionfish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Pterois lunulata inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Motomura, H., 2009. Retrieved November 25, 2013.