Lionfish

Photo: Malcolm Francis · CC BY-NC

Red lionfish are native across the Indo-Pacific and at Palolo Deep they occupy crevices along the sinkhole walls from about 10 m down to the sandy bottom, emerging after dusk to hunt small reef fish by corralling prey against the coral face. Their venomous spines make them apex ambush predators in this microhabitat, and their density here reflects the high small-fish biomass that the reserve's protection sustains.