Message #242500

[Christiana Hanaman]

First Place: Wide-Angle

Photograph courtesy Mark Fuller, RSMAS

Lionfish swim among smaller fish in Israel's Red Sea.

"What they'll often do is use their pectoral fins like fans and gently herd a school of little fish in front of them ... and then inhale them once the fish is in front of their mouth," Schmale said.

This "beautiful" fish has spread beyond its native environment, however, and is now a threat to other fish species in the Caribbean.

(See related pictures: "Sharks Taught to Hunt Alien Lionfish.")

Published April 26, 2012