Lionfish question

[urodude]

Love my lionfish. He(she)'s awesome. I get nervous when I'm feeding the other fish because he's pretty fast and thinks everything is for him. I quish various frozen food cubes between my fingers to thaw and distribute in front of one of the outflow tubes, which nicely disperses it for all the fish to get some. Sometimes, the lionfish makes an aggressive move toward my fingers and I jump.
Here's the question... I'm not so much afraid of his mouth, but the venomous spines. Does it hurt simply to brush against the dorsal spines or does the fish actually inject/express the venom only when defending itself?
Another way to ask it- is this a passive or active defense mechanism?
Thanks

 

[xdave]

Quit doing that!!! :scared: If he were to hit you, especially across the back of your hand, well, lets just say that "hurt" barely derscribes it.

 

[urodude]

I guess that means the sting is passive, on contact. Thanks.

 

[nereef]

i may be wrong, but i believe the sting has to be administered by the lion. my fuzzy has tankmates brush up against him, and they don't get stung.

 

[k-rok]

I just got my Black Volitan yesterday - looks like he has 3 spikes sticking up from his dorsal fins. They look pretty scarey - like needles. I tried feeding him but he wanted nothing to do with food. Guess he will need some time to adjust to his new environment.

 

[v-lioness]

I have been brushed up against and not stung, yet I accidentally bumped one during feeding and was stung.
You should pick up a feeding prong from your LFS (about 2.50), it could save you some pain later on.
Kaye

 

[cannonman]

you were stung? :scared: so what happened, what was it like?? :notsure:

 

[v-lioness]

you were stung? so what happened, what was it like??
As soon as I was stung, I knew it, it hurt and felt like a burning sensation, I immediately ran my arm under hot water for at least 20 minutes. After that it is like a throbbing sensation, it does hurt.
I was stung by a Volitan, the dwarf stings are worse than the volitans, I have not been stung by a dwarf, and personally would not want to be....lol
Kaye