keywords: lionfish carnivorous poisonous coast seas
text: Mission Studying Lionfish Off N.C. Coast (AP) AP - When divers first reported lionfish off the North Carolina coast four years ago, biologist Paula Whitfield thought it must be a mistake or an aberration. The poisonous, carnivorous Indo-Pacific lionfish is native to tropical waters half a world away  #151; not the seas off the Outer Banks.