Fish Files in your Backyard
Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans)
Where do I live?
My native home is in the Indo-Pacifc Ocean along the western coast of Australia and Malaysia. I live as far north to southern Japan and South Korea. I am also living no as a non-native fish along the coast of Florida. This is largely due to the release by aquarium owners who no longer want me as a pet. I make my home among the coral reefs in warm saltwater. During the day I usually hide in caves hiding from the sun, but at night I hunt along the coral rocks. When I am younger I am communal living in small groups of other lionfish. As I grow up to be an adult I become solitary living and hunting on my own. If another adult lionfish enters my territory I will defend it aggressively.
What do I look like?
I am a very beautiful fish with striking colours and pattern. In the animal kingdom this is usually a warning to predators that may try to eat me to keep away. My head and body is banded with reddish or golden brown bands over a yellow body. My dorsal and pectoral fins are also banded and are very large like a fan. My tail fin has dark rows of spots on a clear background.
What do I eat?
In the reef I am near the top of the food web. Some of my favorite foods are small fish, shrimps and crabs that I usually hunt at night.
What is unique about me?
My looks are deceiving. Thought I may look nice I am actually venomous. I carry my venom in the spines of my dorsal fin. This is how I defend myself from being eaten. I can also use it to hunt. When hunting I will use my large fins to pin food like crabs into a corner and then stun them with my venom.
How common am I?
I am not listed as being threatened or endangered, but I could be in the future. I am often taken from my home and sold around the world in the aquarium trade. Another danger to me is the potential loss of habitat and food. The increased pollution in coral reefs puts the reef at risk and some of the foods I eat. If one or the other disappears so do I.
Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta splendens)
Where do I Live?
I am native to the rice paddies of Thailand, but am also kept as a popular freshwater aquarium pet throughout the world.
What do I look like?
In the wild I have short fins, am drab brown and green in colour and grow to a length of approximately 5 cm. Breeders have developed many varieties of me with much longer fins in a wide range of shapes and colours. If I have very long and flowing fins, it means I am a male.
What do I eat?
In the wild I like to eat a wide range of insects and zooplankton with the occasional bit of vegetation. I’m not that picky in the aquarium either and will eat many types of commercial fish food, from dried pellets and flakes, to frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp.
What is unique about me?
Besides my beautiful colours and long fins, I am quite well known for my aggression, flaring my gills and attacking other bettas, or things which appear to be other bettas, such as my own reflection or other fish with long flowing fins. Rice farmers used to collect me for fights and bet on the outcomes.
How common am I?
My bright colors and expressive nature has made me into one of the most popular and common freshwater aquarium fish in the world.