Pterois miles

Lionfish | Devil Firefish | Indian Lionfish | Indian Turkeyfish | Miles' Firefish | Miles' Lionfish | Soldier Lionfish
Pterois miles
Pterois miles, Red Sea, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Pterois miles
Pterois miles, Indonesia, Photo: Graham Edgar
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Pterois miles
Pterois miles

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 (14.0% 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