Lionfish ID

aidenb · Jan 27, 2023

Hi there. I ordered a dwarf zebra lion for to live with some smaller morays. It arrived yesterday but isn’t a zebra. I’m having a hard time differentiating whether the fish I received is an antennata or a mombasae. It seems well settled in to the quarantine tank and is eating quite readily. I’m just hoping someone with more experience can ID which species it actually is.

KING KONG · Jan 28, 2023

aidenb said:
Hi there. I ordered a dwarf zebra lion for to live with some smaller morays. It arrived yesterday but isn’t a zebra. I’m having a hard time differentiating whether the fish I received is an antennata or a mombasae. It seems well settled in to the quarantine tank and is eating quite readily. I’m just hoping someone with more experience can ID which species it actually is.

It's actually really hard to tell the antenata from the mombasa when they are small. The only way to tell is the markings on the tail are different, the spots on the fins have different placement and the fin rays are longer on antennata. it is a very common mistake. It had also happened with me. Mine sold me antennata lionfish (which looks like your's) and told that it is a zebra. Look what other's say

lion king · Jan 28, 2023

Hard to tell from from here, here's how you can tell. A mombasa will have red pectoral fin dots, while the antenatta will be blue or black. When young the antennata will have black eye markings but change to a reddish brown as they mature, while the mombasa wil be red; if under 4" this can also be a tell. The filaments at the end of the antennatta can be longer than the pectoral fin, while the mombas's is shorter. Check out the pic below, on the tail, the mombasa will have this inverted y marking, you can also see the red dots and the short filaments.