Pez león

Q: Can you eat Pez león?

Carne blanca dulce y untuosa una vez retiradas de forma segura las espinas venenosas; cada vez más promovido como fuente de alimento sostenible en aguas atlánticas, donde es una especie invasora.

Q: How big does Pez león get?

Pez león can grow up to 38.0 cm long and weigh 1.1 kg.

Q: Where is Pez león found?

Nativo del Indo-Pacífico, desde África oriental y el mar Rojo hasta el sur de Japón, Australia y las Marquesas. Invasivo en el Atlántico occidental y el Caribe desde la década de 1990, colonizando arrecifes desde Florida hasta Brasil. Nerítico, arrecifes de coral

Q: Is Pez león endangered?

The conservation status of Pez león is Least Concern according to the IUCN Red List.

Q: What family does Pez león belong to?

Pez león (Pterois volitans) belongs to the family Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfishes) in the order Scorpaeniformes (Scorpionfishes).

Abstract

A venomous coral-reef fish native to the Indo-Pacific, the red lionfish fans out banded pectoral fins and bristles with striped, venom-tipped dorsal spines. Reaching about 38 centimetres, it ranges naturally from East Africa and the Red Sea to Japan, Australia, and the Marquesas. Since the 1990s it has become a destructive invader in the western Atlantic and Caribbean, colonising reefs from Florida to Brazil where it preys heavily on native fish and has few predators. Once its spines are safely removed, its sweet, buttery white flesh is increasingly promoted as a sustainable catch to curb invasive numbers. In its native range the species is assessed as Least Concern.