It's that time again😎

[philipatmaxfour]

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The "Wing" fins and the Dorsal have venomous spines.

Great pic Doc. You are trying not to smile cause we are all jealous enough already. Hope you and the family have a great holiday.

[trevorakm1]

Get em all buddy! Be careful though.

[Twizted1]

That looks like a big one.

[Rock Doctor]

That looks like a big one.

It's not that big, I'm holding it out for the picture

This gives a more realistic idea of size. The one in the right is average.
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RD

[Don]

Very cool. Some folks pay big bucks to put one of those in a marine aquarium and you're putting them on a plate! Of course, the folks who'd pay the big bucks are also the ones that were not-so-smart enough to introduce them into native waters. I've heard the taste is mild; something like a fresh water perch. Is that so? I've not been silly enough to ever have been stung, but I've witnessed it (young fish) and it looked like a painful ordeal, but no one went to the hospital. I'm assuming a big one would kick one's butt. You need to come to one of the rides with a cooler full of fillets!

[Twizted1]

Very cool. Some folks pay big bucks to put one of those in a marine aquarium and you're putting them on a plate! Of course, the folks who'd pay the big bucks are also the ones that were not-so-smart enough to introduce them into native waters. I've heard the taste is mild; something like a fresh water perch. Is that so? I've not been silly enough to ever have been stung, but I've witnessed it (young fish) and it looked like a painful ordeal, but no one went to the hospital. I'm assuming a big one would kick one's butt. You need to come to one of the rides with a cooler full of fillets!

Ouch. I actually have a lionfish tank. But I wouldn't put them in the wild.

[Rock Doctor]

Very cool. Some folks pay big bucks to put one of those in a marine aquarium and you're putting them on a plate! Of course, the folks who'd pay the big bucks are also the ones that were not-so-smart enough to introduce them into native waters. I've heard the taste is mild; something like a fresh water perch. Is that so? I've not been silly enough to ever have been stung, but I've witnessed it (young fish) and it looked like a painful ordeal, but no one went to the hospital. I'm assuming a big one would kick one's butt. You need to come to one of the rides with a cooler full of fillets!

They are very good, I would compare them to Walleye, which is also very mild. You're right though, a hospital trip is not mandatory, but I do have a friend that tried to tough it out when he got spines in the finger. He ended up in surgery about 3 days later, they had to carve all the meat out of his finger. They did manage to save the finger though. It might depend on how mature the fish is, as you say.

[Rock Doctor]

I took my #1 daughter out for a night snorkle last night, you won't believe what the other girls missed out on.

http://youtu.be/Z3dRO9YjUm4

RD

[Rock Doctor]

Ouch. I actually have a lionfish tank. But I wouldn't put them in the wild.

It is believed that the ones here escaped during a hurricane. Their tank smashed and they managed to make it to the ocean, and now there is no stopping them. I'm doing what I can to slow them down ;-)

RD

[Don]

Sorry; didn't mean to insinuate aquarium hobbyists were all irresponsible. It just irritates me when I see it. The canals in south florida along with the everglades are lousy with foreign species, and the Northern Snakehead from China is pushing out native species from the rivers and lakes of Maryland and Virginia. (Steps down from soap box).