Planet Zoo 2 Red Lionfish — habitat, biome, size & which animals it can live with

Red Lionfish is one of the 130 Planet Zoo 2 launch species. It is housed in a Aquarium habitat, accepts the Estuarine / Reef biome, carries a Grade 2 · 1m barrier requirement and is listed at 0.34 m (length). It shares a biome and an enclosure type with 22 other species, but the official species data rules out every one of those pairings, so it needs a habitat of its own.

Red Lionfish

Every figure on this page comes from the official Planet Zoo 2 Zoopedia export rather than trailer footage: biome, enclosure type, barrier grade, size and the compatibility verdicts are all taken from the game's own data.

Size (M)0.34 m

Weight (M)—

BarrierGrade 2

EnclosureAquarium

BiomesEstuarine / Reef

StatusLeast Concern

Where it lives in the wild
Indian Ocean · Pacific Ocean

Red Lionfish at a glance

Source: official Planet Zoo 2 Zoopedia export (130 species). Also on the searchable animal list.

Enclosure and barrier requirements

Red Lionfish needs a Aquarium enclosure and accepts the Estuarine / Reef biomes. The barrier requirement is Grade 2 · 1m, and that is the number to check before building: a Grade 4 animal behind a Grade 1 wall is the most common way a first zoo stalls.

Which animals can live with the Red Lionfish?

Red Lionfish shares a biome and an enclosure type with 22 other species, but every one of those pairings is ruled out by the official data, because one side of each pair is officially solitary.

Same biome, but not compatible

22 of the species that accept the Estuarine / Reef biome cannot share an enclosure with the Red Lionfish, because one side of the pair is officially solitary. These are the pairings people ask about most, so they are spelled out rather than left as an unexplained gap.

Species	Biome	Enclosure	Why not
Blackspotted Puffer	Reef	Aquarium	Blackspotted Puffer is solitary “Blackspotted puffers are solitary and territorial, only interacting with conspecifics during the breeding season.”
Blacktip Reef Shark	EstuarineMangroveReef	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Blue and Gold Fusilier Deluxe	Reef	AquariumExhibit	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Bluespine Unicornfish	Reef	AquariumExhibit	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Clown Anemonefish	Reef	AquariumExhibit	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Clown Triggerfish	Reef	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Giant Grouper	EstuarineMangroveReef	Aquarium	Giant Grouper is solitary “Giant groupers are solitary fish, although they may form temporary aggregations during spawning.”
Golden Trevally	EstuarineReef	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Great Hammerhead Deluxe	Open SeaReef	Aquarium	Great Hammerhead is solitary “As opposed to some other species of hammerhead, the great hammerhead shark is a solitary animal.”
Hawksbill Turtle	EstuarineMangroveOpen SeaReef	Aquarium	Hawksbill Turtle is solitary “Hawksbill Turtles are solitary and only interact with other individuals to mate.”
Humphead Wrasse	Open SeaReef	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Indian Ocean Oriental Sweetlips	EstuarineReef	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Indo-Pacific Leopard Shark	EstuarineMangroveOpen SeaReef	Aquarium	Indo-Pacific Leopard Shark is solitary “Indo-Pacific leopard sharks are usually solitary, but may gather in large groups on occasion for reasons unknown.”
Indo-Pacific Sergeant	Open SeaReef	AquariumExhibit	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Longfin Batfish Deluxe	Reef	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Ocellated Eagle Ray	EstuarineOpen SeaReef	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Palette Surgeonfish	Reef	AquariumExhibit	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Sailfin Snapper	Reef	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Schooling Bannerfish	Reef	AquariumExhibit	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Threespot Damselfish	MangroveReef	AquariumExhibit	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
West Indian Manatee	EstuarineLakes & RiversMangroveOpen SeaWetlands	Aquarium	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”
Yellow Tang	Reef	AquariumExhibit	Red Lionfish is solitary “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.”

Close, but ruled out by enclosure type

4 species share at least one biome with the Red Lionfish but use a different enclosure type — a land habitat against an aquarium or a flying aviary — so they cannot be mixed however well the biomes line up.

Diamondback Terrapin, Greater Flamingo, Moon Jelly, Saltwater Crocodile

Behaviour, size and weight

Red Lionfish is classed as Solitary in Frontier's Social & Reproduction notes: “Red lionfish are solitary but will gather in temporary harems during breeding events.” On size the game lists 0.34 m (length) for the male and 0.34 m for the female. Size and weight together decide the minimum habitat footprint, so use the female figure when you are sizing a breeding pair rather than a display animal.

FAQ

Related

All 130 animals · Full compatibility chart for Red Lionfish · Aquarium animals · Aviary birds · Deluxe edition animals · System requirements