Striped winged. Lionfish or zebra fish: description and what is the danger. Behavioral features and curious facts about the lionfish
Features and habitat of lionfish
zebra fish, red lionfish, she is also a zebra lionfish, and also sea Devil and this is all one species of fish that belongs to the Scorpion family, including 23 genera. There are more than 170 species.
Zebra fish dwell in the oceans with warm waters. They can be found in the Pacific, Indian, Atlantic Ocean. In general, fish settle in areas where there are reefs. This is probably why, when a person hears about this fish, the outlines of a beautiful bewitching spectacle, whose name is the Great Barrier Reef, emerge before his eyes.
These fish, no doubt, prefer sea water, however, infrequently they can be found in fresh or brackish waters. Living in the deep zebra fish prefer coastal areas, closer to reefs and underwater rocks.
All representatives of the Scorpion family are characterized by a massive body, the dimensions of which can vary from 40 millimeters to a meter. The color of fish and size largely depends on the area.
zebra fish It has unique structure. The head is covered with numerous spiny processes located on the crests, and the eyes are large and bulging. Interesting structure have fins.
The fin, located on the back, is divided into parts, there are two of them: the front part is dotted with rather long solid processes resembling rays. The fins are very developed, and the scope and size resembles the wings of birds. At the tips of such peculiar rays are poisonous glands.
The appearance of the lionfish zebra is so interesting and varied that you can talk about it endlessly. The coloration resembling zebra stripes is inherent in all species of this family, which is probably why the name lionfish sounds like zebra fish. We remind you that this name is unofficial, that is, it is a nickname given by people.
The variegated coloring of fish by nature is given for a reason, so the lionfish warns its enemies that meeting with it is a danger to their lives. Against the background of coral reefs, one can often distinguish multi-colored zebra fish of a red, purple-brown hue in combination with white stripes and spots. Less often you can see yellowish lionfish.
If you look at pictures of zebra fish, then you can count a great many different color combinations and none of them, most likely, repeats exactly. Sorry, got a little distracted from the building.
So, the body of the fish, elongated in length, slightly humpbacked, and flattened from the sides. The back, on the contrary, is slightly concave, but the frontal part of the sea beauty is massive, and protrudes quite strongly forward. On this part, one can clearly distinguish the clear contours of the large lips.
Experts have calculated that the zebra fish has eighteen poison-filled needles, and most of them, namely thirteen, are located along the back, three originate in the abdominal part, and nature prudently placed the remaining two in the tail part.
The structure of the needle is interesting - furrows run along the entire length, I must say quite deep, and glands with poison are concentrated in them, covered with a thin layer of skin. The dose of poison emitted by one needle is not lethal, however, from the point of view of danger, the poison of fish is much more terrible than even the poisonous substances of snakes, and therefore, when several needles pierce the body of the victim at once, this can lead to death.
The nature and lifestyle of zebra fish
Lionfish leads a passive lifestyle. Almost all the time she lies at the bottom, turning her belly up and at the same time does not move at all. She loves very much in broad daylight to climb into a deep crevice and spend the whole day there so that no one distracts her from daytime rest.
zebra fish"comes to life" only with the advent of the night, because it is by nature night Hunter. Opening its large mouth, the fish sucks in the water current and with it what it prefers as a meal. The victim usually does not notice it, because it is very difficult to notice the fish against the backdrop of colorful reefs.
Look at a photo, where zebra fish posing against the backdrop of underwater reefs and make sure that it resembles a small beautiful underwater bush. It is the ability to disguise that becomes dangerous for a deep diver, because a person is not able to distinguish poisonous fish in a unique ocean landscape.
It would be unfair to call a lionfish a coward, because in the event of an attack, it will never retreat from the enemy. She will always repel an attack, turning around, each time with her back to the enemy, while trying to expose her deadly weapon so that the enemy stumbles upon poisonous needles.
It is interesting to watch the movements of the fish when it attacks. This is quite interesting in video, where zebra fish just filmed in the role of a warrior attacking his victim.
The injection with a poisonous thorn, according to the stories of the victims, is very painful. From pain, a person often experiences a so-called pain shock. If this happens at a decent depth, and there is no one next to the diver, then this can turn out to be deplorable for him.
A person simply does not have time to surface before the onset of shock and, of course, dies. True, for those who received a lethal dose of poison, but still managed to get ashore, the injection inflicted predatory fish, can cause necrosis of connective tissues, and this, in turn, will lead to gangrene.
In fairness, it should be noted that the lionfish has not so many enemies. Researchers sea depths and their inhabitants claim that the remains of fish come across only in the belly of large special groupers from the Stone Perch family.
But a man is dangerous for fish, because he catches it for aquariums. Keeping these fish in captivity recent times became a fashion fad. And now people catch lionfish not only for aquariums, but also for keeping them in home aquariums.
Price on the zebra fish always varies and depends on the size of the individual and on its color. For example, a dwarf lionfish will cost an amateur in the region up to 1 thousand rubles, sometimes a little more, which you will agree is not very much.
BUT blue zebrafish, in general, it can be purchased for 200 rubles, provided that its dimensions are not higher than 15 centimeters. It is worth noting that the blue lionfish with vertical stripes of a dark shade was previously kept in aquariums and it was almost the only specimen that could be found at home.
Today everything has changed and now aquarium zebra fish in the market or pet store you can buy any exotic color. Golden, red, with an orange tint and other species are very popular with lovers.
Note: The volume of the aquarium for keeping this fish should be chosen within 300 liters. When cleaning the aquarium, always make sure that the lionfish is in sight. This must be done so that she cannot sneak up unnoticed to inflict a prick with a thorn.
Males always defend their territorial possessions and therefore constantly conflict with each other. The ideal option for keeping 2-3 females per representative of the male half. With the adaptation of fish to frozen foods and appropriate water quality, the maintenance of lionfish does not cause major problems.
Zebra fish food
Since this species of fish is considered to be demersal, it feeds mainly on small fish and representatives of crustaceans. Captive zebra fish easily adapts to a new diet and will not refuse to taste guppies, and if the owner does not pamper her with live food, then she will not be picky and will eat what she is offered, for example, frozen fish delicacy. You need to feed the lionfish every other day.
Reproduction and lifespan of zebra fish
A year after birth, the fish matures sexually. And it is during this period that it is not difficult to establish the identity of the fish by gender.
In males, for example, by the age of one, a large body is formed with a massive, protruding forehead. And on the so-called anal fin, males have a characteristic orange spot, which does not exist in females. In addition, males always have a more intense color.
The process of courtship, in fact, like the spawning period in fish, begins with the advent of night. As soon as the sun goes down, the males wait for about another half an hour and then start to go after the chosen ones. It's interesting that blue views lionfish create pairs only at the time of spawning.
Mating occurs daily for a week. At this time, the males are very aggressive and fights between them happen every now and then. During the mating season, they will not regret a diver who happens to be next to warlike males during the courtship period.
Caviar during spawning is given by fish in two portions. Each portion is separately enclosed in a special mucous membrane, which is called the matrix. The matrix has the shape of a ball with a transverse diameter of 5 centimeters.
Eggs can fit in such a device 2 thousand, however, often the number is much larger up to 20 thousand. The mucous sac floats to the surface, where it breaks, as a result, the eggs are released.
With regard to life expectancy, unfortunately, in vivo this fact is unknown. But in an aquarium, on average, representatives of zebra fish can, on average, please their owners with their presence for 15 years, and then leave this world.
One of the beautiful fish is a marine inhabitant, lionfish fish. Which attracts attention with its bright and unusual color.
But despite its name, lionfish (lat. Pterois volitans) cannot fly. The lionfish is also called the lion fish or the zebra fish. She owes her first name to her long fins, which look like a predatory lion's mane, and won the second because of the wide brown, red and gray stripes that stretch all over her body. Basically, the lionfish is a better-known inhabitant of the tropical parts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans off the coast of Australia, Japan and China.
Many breasts and dorsal fins in which poisonous needles lurk, made the lionfish also a very dangerous inhabitant of the seas.
During the day, these fish are inactive, and putting out their poisonous fins, they hide among corals or among stones. They go hunting after dark. Their menu mainly includes crabs, shellfish, shrimp and small fish. Hiding and standing still, it is difficult to distinguish the lionfish from algae, and therefore the fish very easily fall into their trap. If the prey decided to run away, then it stumbles upon poisonous spikes, and the poison of the lionfish acts instantly.
Zebra fish is a good predator, for example, in half an hour it catches and swallows up to 30 fish. The poison of this beautiful and deadly dangerous fish also very dangerous for humans. Such poisoning leads to disruption of the heart and is accompanied by convulsions. The pain begins to subside only after a few hours and is felt for more than one day, and in some cases, gangrene may begin at the injection site with poison.
The male lionfish during the mating period changes its color, and becomes darker than usual, which makes its stripes less noticeable. The female becomes paler, and parts of her body become white-silver. For mating, the male chooses a group of 3 to 8 females, at which point the males are more aggressive than ever. If another male swims into the mating territory of a male lionfish, the owner of the territory spreads his fins wide, approaching the enemy and showing his strength and power. Caviar during the spawning period is divided into two balls which contain at least 2000 and up to 15000 eggs.
Zebra fish (Pterois volitans) belongs to the scorpionfish family, lionfish genus, class bony fish.
Distribution of zebra fish.
The zebra lionfish is called the lion fish Zebra fish attack very quickly and draw their prey into their mouths in one jerky gulp. This attack is carried out so easily and quickly that the rest of the victims from the school of fish may not even notice that one of the relatives has disappeared. Zebra fish hunt for fish in open water near the surface, they expect prey below 20-30 meters from the water level and look out for small schools of fish that sometimes jump out of the water to escape other predators. And when they plunge into the water again, they become the prey of lionfish.
In addition to fish, zebra fish eat invertebrates, amphipods, isopods, and other crustaceans. Zebra fish glide over the substrate (stones or sand) and vibrate their fin rays to drive small prey out into the open water.
When there is a lot of food, the fish slowly plan in the water column, they can do without food for at least 24 hours.
Zebra fish grow fast and reach large sizes already in early age. This feature increases the chances of survival and successful breeding of offspring.
The conservation status of the zebra fish.
The zebra fish is not listed as a threatened or endangered species. However, increasing levels of pollution in coral reefs are expected to kill some of the small fish and crustaceans that zebrafish feed on. If zebra fish cannot adapt to these changes by choosing alternative food sources, then, consequently, their numbers will continue to decrease constantly.
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There is a lion in nature - the king of animals. There are also sea lion- inhabitant northern seas... it turns out that lions are also found in the underwater kingdom! What is this creature and what is its name? - you ask. This is a lion fish. A photo of the underwater king and a description are in our article.
In another way, these animals are called zebra fish and striped lionfish. They belong to the ray-finned fish, belong to the scorpion-like order. Lion fish is a member of the scorpionfish family, which includes the lionfish genus.
What are zebra fish? Why are they considered to be representatives? lion family? Let's look at the photo of the lion fish and try to figure it out ...
The appearance of an unusual fish. Photo of lion fish
The striped lionfish grows up to 40 centimeters in length. The animal weighs approximately 1 kilogram.
The most attractive thing about this inhabitant underwater world- its color. It has so many different patterns and colors! The stripes come in red, and brown, and yellow, and bluish hues. When the fish spreads its fins, it really looks like a lion from the front: its splayed spikes, together with the variegated color, resemble lion's mane. Lateral fins may have a grayish tone.
The body of the fish has a slightly flattened shape from the sides. The mouth of the lion fish is large. A feature of the structure is the absence of a swim bladder.
Now more about the spikes of the lionfish. These are not just once hardened outgrowths on the skin. Each such needle contains a gland containing poisonous substance. If a lion fish pricks with its thorn, then the wounded will not be spared. In addition to sharp spikes, colorful colors also signal danger. It seems to us that the fish is painted for beauty, but in wild nature- this is a warning symbolizing: "Do not approach, I am dangerous!"
And the expression of the “face” is exactly royal, arrogantly threatening! Where does the lion fish live?
Recently, this ray-finned fish has greatly expanded the boundaries of its "possessions". If earlier she lived only in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, now it has reached the Atlantic. They began to meet her close Caribbean, near the coast of Cuba, Haiti and the state of Florida (USA).
Zebra fish lifestyle
Like its terrestrial "namesake", the lionfish is a real predator. This marine beauty has two ways of hunting: passive and active. When the lionfish hunts passively, it disguises itself as environment, in which the coloring of the body helps her, and waits for prey. When an unsuspecting prey swims by, the lion fish instantly grabs it and eats it. Active food extraction consists in intimidating the victim and swallowing it.
For zebra fish, the twilight lifestyle is more attractive; this fish prefers to spend daylight hours in crevices or underwater caves.
How and what does a lion fish eat? Who is her favorite prey?
The peculiarity of eating food is that the fish swallows its prey without dismembering it into parts, but directly as a whole. The basis of her nutrition are, small fish, a variety of shellfish and crabs.
What is known about the breeding of zebra fish?
These fish spawn during the half moon week. Egg laying occurs every 20 to 40 minutes after the sun sets. Males during the spawning period become aggressive and may attack bathing people.
Caviar is placed in spherical formations, which have a diameter of about 5 centimeters. In such a "ball" there are from 2 to 15 thousand eggs! Subsequently, these spherical clusters disintegrate, and the eggs start floating independently on the water, carrying future fry over great distances.
The lionfish got its nickname for its large pectoral fins which are so well developed that they big size gives them a resemblance to the wings of birds. The body of the fish is covered large quantity long sharp and poisonous rays. An injection with such a spike is extremely painful, from which a person can fall into a painful shock, which is especially dangerous at depth, since the diver simply does not have time to surface to the boat or swim to the shore. In rare cases, tissue necrosis may form at the injection site, leading to gangrene of the stung limb.
The extreme danger of the poisonous rays of the lionfish makes it one of the most scary inhabitants sea waters. In addition, the fish lives for the most part on picturesque coral reefs, which are traditionally a favorite place for divers to dive. An inexperienced diver or a person simply enchanted by the beauty of the fish will definitely be pricked if he tries to stroke the lionfish.
However, the lionfish fish is quite passive. Most she spends time without movement, lying with her belly on the bottom, or climbing into a crevice. She only comes out to hunt at night. She sucks her prey along with water into a large mouth when it approaches close enough to the predator. Among bright colors on a coral reef, the lionfish looks like another beautiful bush that small fish, shrimp or clams are sure to want to explore. But the same ability to disguise itself as a bunch of algae for a person, as already mentioned, sometimes turns out tragically.
Generally coral reef a place as beautiful as it is dangerous. If it is not difficult to notice a giant grouper, and he, as you know, can attack a person if he considers him a contender for his territory, then seeing a moray eel, snake or lionfish is sometimes difficult. Therefore, be vigilant. It should be remembered that the lionfish does not attack first, and the injections are random.
Talk about appearance lionfish can be long. Many types of lionfish living in the world's oceans differ in size and color. In the Caribbean Sea, there are individuals growing up to 55 cm. Basically, fish do not exceed 30 cm. Large pectoral fins are characteristic of all subspecies of lionfish. On the back are long rays. The caudal and anal fins are shifted far towards the tail. The coloring resembles zebra stripes, which is where the informal name of lionfish comes from - zebra fish.
There are not many enemies at the lionfish on the reef. Only in the stomachs of large groupers were the remains of this fish found. Great danger for a zebra fish, a person represents. He uses her as an aquarium fish.