Check out the spines peeking out from the sheath. Photo by Erin Spencer
Did you know…Lionfish stings are due to venomous spines. Each spine is surrounded by a loose sheath that is pushed down during envonemation, compressing two venom glands located at the base of each spine. Neurotoxic venom then travels through two parallel grooves up the spine and into an unhappy victim. For more on this and other facts, see my most recent Nat Geo post here.