Lionfish how many?

[Marek K]

Yeah... during the day, when they're reef-lurking, I usually see them under the bottoms of the reefs near the sand; that would be starting from about 15 or 20 ft. in depth.

At night, when they're gliding around away from the reefs, I've seen them come right up to the shore in wading depth. But that's not so common. They mostly glide around just off the bottom around the reefs. Good reason to have good buoyancy control!!

Hand signal for lionfish is usually fingers of both hands interlaced, knuckles up, fingers extended... mimicking the lionfish's spines.

 

[claplant]

While we're at it, in the same idea, I've seen a lot of "Anemone fish" on google image. Are they in the clown fish family? Are they a common fish over there(when I was in Malaysia they were my favorite, while snorkeling, such a bad attitude for such a little fish)?

Finally, what about Napoleon fish? is this an other very usual fish or a rare one? They seem to have the same attitude has the grouper (potato,black or any other kind of large one in this family), relax and "curious".

 

[Jai Bar]

While we're at it, in the same idea, I've seen a lot of "Anemone fish" on google image. Are they in the clown fish family? Are they a common fish over there(when I was in Malaysia they were my favorite, while snorkeling, such a bad attitude for such a little fish)?

Finally, what about Napoleon fish? is this an other very usual fish or a rare one? They seem to have the same attitude has the grouper (potato,black or any other kind of large one in this family), relax and "curious".

"Anemone fish" are also called clownfish. In different parts of the world they have slightly different color patterns. They are abundant in the Red Sea. As with the Lion Fish, I can't imagine a single dive without seeing dozens of them.

Napoleons (Humphead Wrasse) are not so common, perhaps due to the fact that adults are very territorial and won't tolerate competition on the same piece of reef.
If you dive in Egypt, for example, you can expect to meet them quite often but not in every dive. They come to inspect and follow divers, but I am not sure if they are really "curious" or they are looking for food- some divers have bad habits of feeding them with eggs. I know of one case where a huge Napoleon was found dead- drowned after several days of suffer when it grabbed from a diver a plastic bag containing eggs, which stuck in his gills...

If you like all these fish, perhaps you should start inquiring about a liveaboard in Egypt/Sinai??

 

[MarkUK]

Anemonefish, clownfish, they are all one and the same, there are just different species, but they are all the same basic shape and colouration (though some are darker orange or even a deep red) and they all have the attitude problem. Man, if these little fellas were five feet long, we wouldn't be diving – they'd rip your leg off! I got viciously attacked by one in Oman that was guarding its anemone – the anemone was five inches across, and the little guy was an inch, if that, yet he came a good two feet out of his host to bite at my mask and reg. Tough or what!

You will find anemonefish and their hosts on virtually every dive in the Red Sea, again at all depths, and if you happen to dive somewhere like Ras Mohammed, nearby is a site known as Anemone City – and that's just what it is. Hundreds of anemonefish!

Napolean wrasse are still fairly common, though you only tend to see smaller ones (two feet or so) around the dayboat sites, with the larger ones (six feet plus) being on the liveaboard routes. Still occasional biggies in Ras Mo and Straits of Tiran, but not nearly as many as a few years back. Divers used to feed them boiled eggs, and fish aren't designed to cope with these – one of the biggest that used to hang around Ras Mo was found floating dead and when they cut it open, it's belly was swollen with eggs. Such a shame. They are very curious, especially the bigger guys, and they will often come and check you out, their eyes revolving like a chameleon.

The ones to watch out for a titan triggerfish. Now these guys have an attitude that make clownfish look like a UN peacekeeper! They are generally about a foot and a half long or so, orange and black markings, and they are fiercely territorial – they have big fangs for chomping on coral, and it can bite straight through fins or a 5mm suit. I have seen some nasty bites from these guys... If you see one and it starts rolling on its side and rolling its eyes, go on to your back and swim away from it – stay at the same depth and eventually you will be out of its line of attack. Don't go for the surface – not only could this be dangerous for the obvious reasons, but also their habitat forms a kind of cone to the surface, and so you would still be in the attack zone!

Mark

 

[simonspear]

The ones to watch out for a titan triggerfish. Now these guys have an attitude that make clownfish look like a UN peacekeeper! They are generally about a foot and a half long or so, orange and black markings, and they are fiercely territorial – they have big fangs for chomping on coral, and it can bite straight through fins or a 5mm suit. I have seen some nasty bites from these guys... If you see one and it starts rolling on its side and rolling its eyes, go on to your back and swim away from it – stay at the same depth and eventually you will be out of its line of attack. Don't go for the surface – not only could this be dangerous for the obvious reasons, but also their habitat forms a kind of cone to the surface, and so you would still be in the attack zone!

Mark

LOL yeah. I've been attacked by one before when I swam over its nest. It was biting my fins, legs, mask, regs the whole lot. When I swam off it followed for a long way before it backed down so they will go out of their territory to drive intruders away (I think I must have set the underwater 100m world record on that dive). The main danger time is during their nesting season, but I've no idea when this actually is in the Red Sea. I got away lightly as I've heard of people having their ears bitten off and a number of people who have lost parts of fingers or had substantial chunks taken out of them. The real danger sign is when the trigger on the top of their head pops up - that's when you know that you're in for a fight! I take my camcorder down on every dive with me, but I hardly ever go near them now. Filming sharks no problem - Titan Triggerfish I stay away!!

 

[claplant]

I heard about trigger fish attack, but are they really frequent? Is this specificaly for the titan trigger fish.

Now I almost regret not booking the liveaboard to the brothers, you make me feel safer in hammerhead presence (dove and snorkle many times with shark, from nurse to whale). Better be bitten for real? no?

In fact I'm still not sure if we won't try to book something once there, if we can find 3/4 days trip still available at good price.

 

[Mike Veitch]

Original poster.....

The reason that you read about Lionfish being not so common off US coast is because they are not native to the area and have only been introduced the last few years.

In the INdo Pacific area they are very common and are found from the surface down to 100 feet plus.
Same with anemone fish/clown fish, there are lots of anemone fish but only one clown fish, the percula......

Triggers, the big boys are titans and yellow margin, they both attack during mating season. The yellow margins mate around 6 times per year, the titans usually only twice a year.