JSeymour
New member
So I was talking to a customer today, and eventually our conversation turned to lionfish and what was the biggest captive grown lion we had personally seen. Sadly, neither of us had ever really seen a big one. The largest he could recall seeing was about 12" SL, for me, maybe a bit smaller at 11" SL. Now remember, we're talking CAPTIVE GROWN and Standard Length(tip of snout, to end of caudal peduncle, no tail fins). I've seen larger Florida wild-caughts, ~13" SL. We set a standard on captive grown, it had to double it's length in captivity. Neither of us could recall the exact species(volitan, lunulata, or miles), but we both assumed P. volitan. That's pretty sad for a fish that fishbase says reaches 15" SL and is often considered one of the hardiest fish out there, but that's a topic for later.
Now with so many lionfish keepers out there and claims of 20 year old volitans in the survey, and many just below that, there has to be some beasts out there. But no pictures of these beasts exist, atleast in any form you can tell what size they are. So I'm challenging all you "Beastmasters" out there, bust out your rulers, beer cans, and dollar bills and start measuring. Remember if there isn't a pic, it didn't happen and tails don't count.
Now with so many lionfish keepers out there and claims of 20 year old volitans in the survey, and many just below that, there has to be some beasts out there. But no pictures of these beasts exist, atleast in any form you can tell what size they are. So I'm challenging all you "Beastmasters" out there, bust out your rulers, beer cans, and dollar bills and start measuring. Remember if there isn't a pic, it didn't happen and tails don't count.
