Ray lionfish
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Ray lionfish ( Pterois radiata ) |
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| Pterois radiata | ||||||||||||
| Cuvier , 1829 |
The ray lionfish ( Pterois radiata ) lives in the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and the coast of South Africa to the Ryūkyū Islands , the Society Islands and New Caledonia in lagoons and on outer reefs at depths of up to 30 meters. It is common in the Red Sea, but rather rare in the rest of the distribution area.
features
Ray lionfish grow to a maximum of eight inches, but usually stay at eight inches. Their color is reddish to brownish in 5 to 6 broad transverse bands that are separated from each other by light lines. On the tail fin stalk, a horizontal, reddish region is enclosed by fine, light lines. The ray lionfish are the only Pterois species that have this pattern and that have no color markings on the pure white fin spines. The pectoral fin spines are hardly connected to the fin membrane and are largely free.
Fin formula : Dorsal XII – XIII, 10–12, Anale III, 5–6.
Like almost all scorpion fish, ray lionfish are poisonous. The poison is in the 13 hard rays of the first dorsal fin , in the three hard rays of the anal fin and in the two hard rays of the pelvic fins .
Way of life
The fish prefer rocky regions in shallow reefs and lagoons, less often in outer reefs and seem to avoid hard coral stocks. During the day, the crepuscular animals stay under projections and in crevices. They feed on crabs and other crustaceans . Ray lionfish sometimes hunt together with the aerial lionfish ( Pterois antennata ). Male fish are territorial and drive away potential competitors.
literature
- Hans A. Baensch , Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 6 Non-Perciformes , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1998, ISBN 3-88244-116-X
- Dieter Eichler, Robert F. Myers: Korallenfische Indopazifik , Jahr-Verlag GmbH & Co., 1997, ISBN 3-86132-225-0
- Matthias Bergbauer, Robert F. Myers, Manuela Kirschner: The cosmos handbook dangerous marine animals. Page 144, Kosmos Stuttgart, 2008, ISBN 978-3-440-10945-8
