Long white pectoral rays and a pair of banded tentacles standing over the eyes.
A lionfish to about 20 cm, banded in red-brown and white, separated from the common lionfish by two things: the pectoral rays are long, almost entirely free of webbing and unmarked white, and the membrane at their base carries a row of dark spots. A long banded tentacle stands above each eye, longer and more obvious than in the other Pterois here. Juveniles have the same proportions and are correspondingly easy to name.
Shelters under ledges, in rubble and around jetty structure by day, often hanging upside down against the roof of a small cave, and hunts in the open at dusk and after dark, using the spread pectorals to herd small fish and shrimps into a corner before striking. Recorded from the shallows to about 50 m. The dorsal, pelvic and anal spines are venomous; the fish is not aggressive but it also does not retreat, and it will drift towards a light at night, so the thing to watch is where it has moved to rather than where it was.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
