Puff for Your Dinner
Posted by Shari Horowitz in Tropical Fish Hobbyist Blog on February 28, 2012 at 7:15 am
If you thought the big, bad wolf was nasty, listen to this. Red lionfish (Pterois volitans) are popular fish for marine aquariums. They are fearsome predators that cannot be kept with small fish and invertebrates. It is well known that these magnificent animals use their pectoral fins to herd their prey, but new research shows that red lions also use squirting water as a strategy to confuse the prey. By overwhelming its lateral line, the lionfish forces its target to face the lion, thereby making the prey item easier to swallow.
Check out this video of the lionfish in action.
Source: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/02/video-huffing-and-puffing-for.html
Photograph by Cindy Collinvitti.
