First scorpion fish spotted off Italy

(ANSA) - Rome, March 27 - The first scorpion fish, a highly dangerous tropical invasive species that arrived in the eastern Mediterranean some years ago, has now been spotted off Italy, marine experts said Monday.
    Writing in Bioinvasion Records, the team from Italian marine institute ISPRA, the National Research Council and the American University in Beirut said the first scorpion fish was seen in the Venicari Marine Reserve off Sicily.
    Experts had been on the alert since one of the unwelcome guests was seen off Tunisia in October.
    The scorpionfish are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As the name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venomous mucus. The family is a large one, with hundreds of members. They are widespread in tropical and temperate seas, but mostly found in the Indo-Pacific.