Pterois miles
Lionfish | Devil Firefish | Indian Lionfish | Indian Turkeyfish | Miles' Firefish | Miles' Lionfish | Soldier Lionfish
Distribution
Mediterranean, Temperate Africa, Tropical Atlantic/Caribbean, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Dark red to dark brown bands with white inter-spaces bisected by thin dark bands. White tassels at the tips of dorsal spines and obvious tassels on lower jaw. Head has more bands than than most other Pteroinae (Lionfishes) species. Distinguished from very similar P. volitans (Common Lionfish) primarily by location, being found in the western Indian Ocean and the Atlantic, but also has shorter pectoral fins.
Information
Max Size: 35 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 21-32.7°C
Depth: 1-85m
Habitat Generalization Index: N/A
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Frequent (12.5% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields