Scorpaena
Scorpaena is a widespread genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes.
Taxonomy
Scorpaena was first described as a genus in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th Edition of his Systema Naturae. In 1876 Pieter Bleeker designated S. porcus as the type species of the genus. The genus name is based on the Greek word for a scorpion, skorpaina, an allusion to the venomous spines Linnaeus mentioned in his description of S. scrofa.Species
The 65 recognized species in this genus are:| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
| Scorpaena afuerae Hildebrand, 1946 | Peruvian scorpionfish | southeast Pacific | |
| Scorpaena agassizii Goode & T. H. Bean, 1896 | longfin scorpionfish | North Carolina, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to northern South America | |
| Scorpaena albifimbria Evermann & M. C. Marsh, 1900 | coral scorpionfish | southern Florida, USA and the Bahamas to Curaçao and probably northern South America | |
| Scorpaena angolensis Norman, 1935 | Angola rockfish | Mauritania to Angola, including Cape Verde | |
| Scorpaena annobonae Eschmeyer, 1969 | on rough bottom at Annobon Island | ||
| Scorpaena ascensionis Eschmeyer, 1971 | Southeast Atlantic | ||
| Scorpaena azorica Eschmeyer, 1969 | Northeastern Atlantic region in European waters | ||
| Scorpaena bergii Evermann & M. C. Marsh, 1900 | goosehead scorpionfish | Bermuda, New York to Florida, Bahamas, and Mexico to northern South America | |
| Scorpaena brachyptera Eschmeyer, 1965 | shortfin scorpionfish | southern Florida in USA and Panama to Venezuela | |
| Scorpaena brasiliensis G. Cuvier, 1829 | Barbfish | Virginia, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil | |
| Scorpaena brevispina Motomura & Senou, 2008 | Japanese shortspined scorpionfish | Japan | |
| Scorpaena bulacephala Motomura, Last & Yearsley, 2005 | bullhead scorpionfish | Norfolk Island and off Lord Howe Island, in the northern Tasman Sea. | |
| Scorpaena calcarata Goode & T. H. Bean, 1882 | smooth-head scorpionfish | Canada to North Carolina, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil | |
| Scorpaena canariensis | Hawaiian Islands | ||
| Scorpaena dispar Longley & Hildebrand, 1940 | hunchback scorpionfish | Florida and northern Gulf of Mexico in USA to Brazil | |
| Scorpaena elachys Eschmeyer, 1965 | dwarf scorpionfish | Florida in USA and Antilles | |
| Scorpaena elongata Cadenat, 1943 | slender rockfish | Mediterranean Sea and Morocco to off northern Namibia | |
| Scorpaena fernandeziana Steindachner, 1875 | Desventuradas Is. and Juan Fernández Is. | ||
| Scorpaena gasta Motomura, Last & Yearsley, 2006 | ghostly scorpionfish | Western Australia | |
| Scorpaena grandicornis G. Cuvier, 1829 | plumed scorpionfish | Bermuda, Florida, and Honduras to southern Brazil | |
| Scorpaena grandisquamis J. D. Ogilby, 1910 | bigscale scorpionfish | Australia | |
| Scorpaena grattanica Trunov, 2006 | Grattan Bank, Ascension Island | ||
| Scorpaena guttata Girard, 1854 | California scorpionfish | Santa Cruz in central California, USA to Punta Abreojos, Baja California; including northern Gulf of California and Guadalupe Island in Mexico | |
| Scorpaena hatizyoensis Matsubara, 1943 | Hachijôjima, Japan | ||
| Scorpaena hemilepidota Fowler, 1938 | Philippines | ||
| Scorpaena histrio Jenyns, 1840 | player scorpionfish | Mazatlán, Sonora, Mexico to Chile, from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and Galapagos Islands | |
| Scorpaena inermis G. Cuvier, 1829 | mushroom scorpionfish | Florida, Bahamas, and Yucatan to Curaçao | |
| Scorpaena isthmensis Meek & Hildebrand, 1928 | smooth-cheek scorpionfish | South Carolina, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil | |
| Scorpaena izensis D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1904 | Izu scorpionfish | Indo-West Pacific | |
| Scorpaena jacksoniensis Steindachner, 1866 | coastal water of eastern Australia, from southern Queensland to Victoria | ||
| Scorpaena lacrimata J. E. Randall & D. W. Greenfield, 2004 | Tahiti | ||
| Scorpaena laevis Troschel, 1866 | Senegalese rockfish | Mauritania to Pointe Noire, Congo and including the Azores, and Cape Verde | |
| Scorpaena loppei Cadenat, 1943 | Cadenat's rockfish | Morocco, Mauritania, Portugal, Atlantic coast of Spain, Cyprus and the Mediterranean | |
| Scorpaena maderensis Valenciennes, 1833 | Madeira rockfish | Azores, Madeira, and Morocco to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde and Senegal | |
| Scorpaena melasma Eschmeyer, 1965 | Suriname and off Brazil | ||
| Scorpaena mellissii Günther, 1868 | Melliss's scorpionfish | St. Helena | |
| Scorpaena miostoma Günther, 1877 | Chiba Prefecture, Japan to Pusan, South Korea | ||
| Scorpaena mystes D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1895 | Pacific spotted scorpionfish | California, USA to northern Chile, including the Galápagos Islands | |
| Scorpaena neglecta Temminck & Schlegel, 1843 | Indo-West Pacific | ||
| Scorpaena normani Cadenat, 1943 | Norman's rockfish | Mauritania to southern Angola | |
| Scorpaena notata Rafinesque, 1810 | small red scorpionfish | Bay of Biscay to Senegal, Madeira, Azores and the Canary Islands, including the Mediterranean and the Black Sea | |
| Scorpaena onaria D. S. Jordan & Snyder, 1900 | western scorpionfish | Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and New Caledonia | |
| Scorpaena orgila Eschmeyer & G. R. Allen, 1971 | bold scorpionfish | Easter Island | |
| Scorpaena papillosa | red rock cod | southern Australia and New Zealand | |
| Scorpaena pascuensis Eschmeyer & G. R. Allen, 1971 | Easter Island | ||
| Scorpaena pele Eschmeyer & J. E. Randall, 1975 | Hawaiian Islands | ||
| Scorpaena pepo Motomura, Poss & K. T. Shao, 2007 | pumpkin scorpionfish | Taiwan | |
| Scorpaena petricola Eschmeyer, 1965 | Brazil | ||
| Scorpaena plumieri Bloch, 1789 | spotted scorpionfish | Bermuda, Massachusetts, and northern Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil Eastern Atlantic: Ascension and St. Helena | |
| Scorpaena porcus Linnaeus, 1758 | black scorpionfish | British Isles to the Azores, and the Canary Islands, including Morocco, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea | |
| Scorpaena regina Wibowo, Johnson & Motomura, 2019 | Eastern Queen scorpionfish | Australia | |
| Scorpaena russula D. S. Jordan & Bollman, 1890 | reddish scorpionfish | Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico to Peru | |
| Scorpaena scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 | Red scorpionfish | Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean; Atlantic range from British Isles to Senegal including Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde | |
| Scorpaena sonorae O. P. Jenkins & Evermann, 1889 | Sonora scorpionfish | Mexico | |
| Scorpaena stephanica Cadenat, 1943 | spotted-fin rockfish | Mauritania to Angola | |
| Scorpaena sumptuosa Castelnau, 1875 | western red scorpionfish | southwestern Australia | |
| Scorpaena thomsoni Günther, 1880 | Desventuradas Is. and Juan Fernández Is. | ||
| Scorpaena tierrae Hildebrand, 1946 | Chile | ||
| Scorpaena uncinata F. de Buen, 1961 | Chile | ||
| Scorpaena vesperalis | southwestern Australia | ||
| Scorpaena wellingtoni Victor, 2013 | Cove on Isla Isabela in the Galápagos |
In addition, the following fossil species are known:
- †Scorpaena boulei Arambourg, 1927 - latest Miocene of Algeria
- †Scorpaena jeanneli Arambourg, 1927 - latest Miocene of Algeria
- †Scorpaena prior Heckel, 1861 - middle Miocene of Austria