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Common Lionfish (juvenile)
Sep 11, 2017. In 1000 Steps, Bonaire. The juvenile is more greyish and has longer spines.
Lionfishes are found in different places of Bonaire. It is not a happy sight as they do not belong to this ecosystem and are responsible for decimating populations of the resident gobies and blennies, among other little fishes. For such reason they are actively hunted. As always, it is human's fault that they are now widespread in the Caribbean because of being released from acquaria where they were grown as pets.
The red lionfish is a venomous coral reef fish in the family Scorpaenidae, order Scorpaeniformes. "P. volitans" is natively found in the Indo-Pacific region, but has become a huge invasive problem in the Caribbean Sea and along the East coast of the United States along with a similar species, "Pterois miles".
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