Lionfish becoming darker

[Ananth]

Recently spotted a miles lionfish at the LFS which has changed black. What could be the reason?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I don’t suppose you have a picture?

Was it just the lion’s stripes that turned black, or the whole fish?

Jay

 

[lion king]

Stress and/or aggression, if it's not a black variant which is really more of a chocolate brown, then this is why a red one turns black.

 

[Ananth]

Stress and/or aggression, if it's not a black variant which is really more of a chocolate brown, then this is why a red one turns black.

May be the stress of handling by LFS

 

[Ananth]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I don’t suppose you have a picture?

Was it just the lion’s stripes that turned black, or the whole fish?

Jay

It's the entire fish that changed into a black camouflage colour

 

[lion king]

May be the stress of handling by LFS

If you are interested in the lionfish, the dark color change in and of itself is not an indication of illness or poor health. But it does indicate a situation that if not changed will negatively affect their health. These can be obviously, kept in a small glass cage. They could be housed with aggressive or nippy fish. They could be starving or being fed inappropriately. They could be reacting to poor water quality or chemistry.

 

[Ananth]

Getting into a lionfish wanted to understand their behaviour