Scorpaenodes


Scorpaenodes is a widespread genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. The fishes in this genus are found to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

Scorpaenodes was first formally described as a genus in 1857 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker, Bleeker designated Scorpaena polylepsis as its type species by monotypy. He had originally described this species from Western Sumatra in 1851. S. polylepsis was later shown to be junior synonym of Scorpaena guamensis which had been described from Guam by Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1824 from Guam. This genus is classified within the tribe Scorpaenini, in the subfamily Scorpaeninae of the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Scorpaenodes means having the form of Scorpaena the genus Bleeker originally placed the type species in.

Species

There are currently 29 recognized species in this genus:Scorpaenodes africanus Pfaff, 1933Scorpaenodes albaiensis Scorpaenodes arenai Torchio, 1962 Scorpaenodes barrybrowni Pitassy & C. C. Baldwin, 2016 Scorpaenodes bathycolus G. R. Allen & Erdmann, 2012 Scorpaenodes caribbaeus Meek & Hildebrand, 1928 Scorpaenodes corallinus J. L. B. Smith, 1957Scorpaenodes elongatus Cadenat, 1950 Scorpaenodes englerti Eschmeyer & G. R. Allen, 1971 Scorpaenodes evides Scorpaenodes guamensis Scorpaenodes hirsutus Scorpaenodes immaculatus Poss & Collette, 1990Scorpaenodes insularis Eschmeyer, 1971Scorpaenodes investigatoris Eschmeyer & [Rama Rao, 1972Scorpaenodes kelloggi Scorpaenodes minor Scorpaenodes muciparus Scorpaenodes parvipinnis Scorpaenodes quadrispinosus D. W. Greenfield & Matsuura, 2002 Scorpaenodes rubrivinctus Poss, McCosker & C. C. Baldwin, 2010Scorpaenodes scaber Scorpaenodes smithi Eschmeyer & Rama Rao, 1972 Scorpaenodes steenei G. R. Allen, 1977 Scorpaenodes steinitzi Klausewitz & Frøiland, 1970Scorpaenodes tredecimspinosus Scorpaenodes tribulosus Eschmeyer, 1969Scorpaenodes varipinnis J. L. B. Smith, 1957
  • ''Scorpaenodes xyris''

Characteristics

Scorpaenodes scorpionfishes have a very bony head which is defended by numerous spines and lacks an occipital pit. There is a longitudinal suborbital ridge which has 1-4 spines and may have another row of spines underneath those. There are teeth on the centre of the roof of the mouth but not on its sides. The dorsal fin has 13 spines and between 8 and 10 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 4 or 5 soft rays, the posteriormost dorsal and anal soft rays are branched. There are 15-20 fin rays in the pectoral fin with the lower rays being branched and the central rays being the longest. The scales are rough and typically extend onto the head. There are small spiny rays at top and bottom of the base of caudal fin. The largest species is S. africanus which has a maximum published total length of, however most species are less than in length.

Distribution and habitat

Scorpaenodes scorpionfishes have a circum-tropical distribution and are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are found in coastal waters on coral and rocky reefs and other hard substrates.