---
title: "Common Lionfish"
description: "Pterois volitans — Fish. The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is a venomous coral reef fish in the family Scorpaenidae, order Scorpaeniformes."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/common-lionfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Common Lionfish

> Pterois volitans — Fish. The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is a venomous coral reef fish in the family Scorpaenidae, order Scorpaeniformes.

- Scientific name: *Pterois volitans*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 8620
- Wikidata: [Q824672](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q824672)
- iNaturalist taxon: [47280](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47280)

## Names

- en: Common Lionfish
- de: Pazifischer Rotfeuerfisch
- es: Pez león asiático
- fr: Rascasse volante du Pacifique
- nl: Gewone koraalduivel
- pt: Peixe-leão-vermelho
- pl: Ognica pstra

## Countries with the most observations

ID (808), AU (699), MX (692), PH (440), KY (312), US (290), NC (219), HN (184), JP (168), BZ (162), MQ (162), TW (140)

## Summary

The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is a venomous coral reef fish in the family Scorpaenidae, order Scorpaeniformes. It is mainly native to the Indo-Pacific region, but has become an invasive species in the Caribbean Sea, as well as along the East Coast of the United States and East Mediterranean and also found in Brazil at Fernando de Noronha.
P. volitans and a similar relative, Pterois miles, have both been deemed invasive species. Red lionfish are clad in white stripes alternated with red, maroon or brown stripes. Adults in this species can grow as large as 47 cm (18.5 in) in length, making it one of the largest…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_lionfish

## Photo

![Common Lionfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/common-lionfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: Alexis Garretson · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70091643

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/common-lionfish?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).