Lionfish Reef Compatible??

[mpcolson]

So I'm surfing fishstores and I stumbled across one that implies that Lionfish are "reef compatible"

http://www.freshmarine.com/fuzzy-dwarf-lionfish.html

It says with caution but it gives the same discription with dwarf angelfish as lionfish. With angelfish it does say they might eat your corals, but the lionfish are discribed as carnivorious and they eat crabs and fish.

SO... If I have a reef with crabs I don't want and fish larger than the lionfish can eat ....

Hmmm

Does anyone have any input about this? I thought Lionfish were for FOWLR tanks.

[CarmieJo]

Lionfish are reef safe in that they don't eat corals. They will eat any fish or invert they can fit in their (large) mouth.

[mpcolson]

Well I was kinda hoping it would do the bad crab extermination for me. Provided it doesn't grow too quickly.

I realize they are simular to grouper in the way they can slurp up a meal. I was leaning towards a dwarf Lionfish (an oximoron as they grow to 6 inches I believe) I think that would do the trick.

[Amphibious]

Let me issue a different warning to you. That link you provided to what they are passing off as a “Fuzzy Dwarf Lion Fish” is in fact not Dendrochirus brachypterus, but Pterois antennata, the Thread Fin Lion Fish.



What they pictured, Pterois antennata, the Thread Fin Lion Fish.



What they are offering, Dendrochirus brachypterus, the Fuzzy Dwarf Lion Fish.

Two very different fish. Both reef compatible, both capable of eating small fish and ornamental shrimp.

Both photos shamelessly stolen from the Internet to show that you need to know what you are buying. Is it intentional deception??? Not sure but it’s especially alarming that an E-tailer offering one fish would post a picture of something different. Personally, I would not give them my business BUT I’m going to send them an e-mail pointing out the discrepancy.

In life, as in reefing, it’s always “BUYER BEWARE”. Research EVERYTHING!

Dick

[Amphibious]

I sent the following message to them...

As you state above,"Our goal is to provide an excellent customer experience and to ensure your satisfaction and return.”

My question is, why would you list for sale a “Fuzzy Dwarf Lion Fish” Dendrochirus brachypterus, and place a picture of Pterois antennata, the Thread Fin Lion Fish as representative of the Fuzzy Dwarf? Are you purposely deceiving the public or a simple mistake? Will you correct it? Or, continue to misrepresent the product?

Richard Hilgers

I’ll post their response.

[Phurst]

Nice catch Dick. Let's see what they have to say.

I had a full size voltans in my 120 reef for well over a year. Most of the fish were to big for him to make a meal of, and the ones that weren't were clown gobies and a watchman goby that were inaccessible to the lion. He was well be haved and a very interesting addition to the tank. he went into the DT at my LFS when I took that tank down.

[mpcolson]

Well Dick once again you covered my backside. I stumbled across that website kinda blind. I think it was a google ad link somewhere.

Generally if my site phishing software says its a safe site I'll give it a look. That much passed. But I'm not smart enough to know when I'm looking a chevy or a ford when it comes to marine fish in detail like you are.

Just another great reason to use this site. Sometimes I think I'm posting things that are possibly considered "duh" questions, then this is what happens.

Thanks for the catch.

[saxman]

Just to weigh in on this issue, to be honest, lionfish are one of the most mis-ID'd groups of fish in the hobby. Renee and I field tons of questions regarding species ID, be it "after the purchase" or "prior to purchase". In fact, we keep a few specimens that we scored on due to mis-identification, even on the wholesaler level. Just a couple of them:

sold as: P. miles (wholesaler), is really P. mombassae, which doesn't even look remotely like P. miles:



sold as "dwarf lion", species is not D. zebra, but is really D. barberi:



sold as Sebastapistes cyanostigma, but is really Scorpaenodes strongia:



sold as Inimicus didactylus, but is really I. japonocus (OK...so this was a tuffy!):



However, you all get the idea...