Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. Also called zebrafish, firefish, turkeyfish, tastyfish or butterfly-cod, it is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red, white, creamy, or black bands, showy pectoral fins, and venomous spiky fin rays.[1][2] Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish.[1] P. volitans and P. miles are a recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.[3][4]
Two of the twelve species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.[34] They have been described as "one of the most aggressively invasive species on the planet".[25]
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts.[51] The lionfish web portal[52] is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators and the public and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists as well as other scientists and policy makers from academia NGO and managers.[citation needed]