10 Greatest Star Trek Pets

9. Livingston The Lionfish

We knew that Captain Jellico was a wrong'un the moment he evicted poor Livingston from his reef.

A soothing fixture of the ready room, Picard's lionfish, Livingston, had more appearances in Star Trek than some recurring characters (sorry, Keiko). A beautiful marvel, Livingston provided a hypnotic distraction for any viewer struggling to keep up with whatever fraught debate might be going on in the captain's office.

Livingston's calming presence and shimmering tendrils caught the attention of a whole raft of admirers; Borg, Ferengi, even Caveman Riker. We're not sure what would have been more disconcerting for Livingston during the body-horror episode Genesis...being transformed into a jellyfish, or being eyed up as dinner by Riker.

The exotic fish became so iconic that Q even quipped about Livingston in The Next Generation finale:

'My ship, my crew'...I suppose you're worried about your fish, too.

Yes, Q, we're all worried about the fish. And quite right too.

While we're not entirely sure what happened to Livingston, Picard's need for a sensible sounding board continued into Star Trek: Picard with his mischievous dog, Number One, who refused to listen to French. We're not picking sides, but we'd bet that Livingston would listen in French. Just saying.