Green Lionfish

Dendrochirus barberi has 13 spines and nine soft rays in its dorsal fin and three spines and five soft rays in its anal fin. The spines in the dorsal fin are more than half the depth of the body, separated by deeply notched membranes. It has a large pectoral fin in which the upper rays are branched towards their tips. There are coronal spines, and large specimens may have some branches on the spines on the head. The suborbital ridge has a single row of spines and not a wide patch of minute spinules. The supraocular tentacle may be present and is short, with a length less than the diameter of the orbit and is typically absent. The overall color of the head and body is orange-brown with many scattered, small white spots, whitish on the lower body. There are three poorly marked wide brownish bands on the head; the front band is below the eye, the middle band runs diagonally across the eye from the base of the supraocular spine to the interopercle and the rear band saddles the nape at the base of the parietal spine. There are six indistinct brownish vertical bands on the flanks; the five forward bands are underneath the dorsal fin base, and extend onto the fin membrane. The two bands over the anal fin extend onto its fin membrane and the rearmost band is on the caudal peduncle. All of these bands fade as the fish grows. The color of the eyes is orange-red with a black iris. …

Dendrochirus barberi is found in the eastern central Pacific where it is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Atoll. It lives in waters of less than 50 m (160 ft) depth, on coral or in rocky crevices, in clear seaward reefs or in turbid lagoons.