Whole Foods Wants You to Eat This Invasive, Poisonous, Awesome-Looking Fish

What's on the menu for dinner tonight?

Will it be tuna noodle casserole, or a delicate pink filet of salmon? Shrimp kebabs, or beer-battered tilapia?

When selecting your seafood, there's much to consider. Not just whether you prefer a flaky white fish or the meatier flesh of, say, ahi tuna—there's also sourcing and sustainability to keep in mind. It's no secret at this point that overfishing is one of the biggest problems facing the future of our food supply. Even McDonald's is jumping on the sustainability bandwagon to ensure a bright future for its beloved Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. After all, what kind of world is a world without cheap, breaded, tartar-sauce-smothered cod? (Not one we'd want to live in, anyway.)

But Whole Foods—known for its public efforts to source and offer sustainable seafood—has a new addition to its cold cases: the lionfish, a striped, spiky little species that you've probably seen more often in fancy aquariums than on plates.

Native to the Pacific and Indian oceans, the lionfish is known for its mohawk of venomous spines and aggressive, predatory behavior when it comes to hunting other marine life. With no natural predators of their own, these punk rockers of the sea have been wiping out reefs with reckless abandon for the past two decades. In humans, the sting of their spines can cause severe pain, respiratory distress, and in some particularly nasty cases, paralysis. Diving instructor Mike Ryan once told National Geographic that "it won't kill you, but it'll make you wish you were dead."

Because of its role as an invasive species, the US government is urging chefs and consumers to give it a try on their plates, rather than in their decorative aquariums. Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has even launched a "Lionfish Challenge," awarding the prestigious title of Lionfish King or Queen to whoever can catch the most lionfish on Florida's coast by September 30. So far, more than 14,000 of the fish have been caught.

Until now, grocery stores have been shy about featuring the fish, with its poisonous spikes and unconventional appearance. But Whole Foods' Florida locations are happy to offer the funny little buggers to whatever home cooks are willing to give them a shot.

And they're supposed to be quite tasty. Whole Foods thinks lionfish's buttery white meat is perfect for your next summer ceviche. The supermarket chain sold its first lionfish in early April at a Boca Raton store, but has now expanded lionfish sales to all 26 locations in the state and is offering the "unusual, affordable, and nutritious" meat for $8.99 per pound until June 1, when the price will rise to $9.99 per pound.

"By reducing the number of lionfish in the wild, Whole Foods Market will help reduce the serious environmental threat they cause," Whole Foods representatives said in a press release.

So what are you waiting for? Sink your teeth into something weird, and do Florida a favor in the process.

And don't worry. The "thoroughly trained" staff at Whole Foods is going to remove those venomous spines very carefully.