Lionfish

Photo: 808_Diver · CC BY-NC

Lionfish hover motionless beneath table coral overhangs at Coral Garden, their ornate venomous spines forming a visual warning that keeps most predators at bay. They are ambush predators of extraordinary patience — spreading their pectoral fins to herd small fish into corners before engulfing prey in a strike lasting less than 15 milliseconds. In their native Indian Ocean range they are an integral part of the reef ecosystem, controlled by large grouper and moray eels that are immune to the venom.