Black Scorpionfish
Scorpaena porcus
Red scorpionfish
Scorpaena scrofa
About
The red scorpionfish is a heavy-bodied, venomous fish that spends its days wedged into rocky crevices, barely visible against the reef. It is the largest scorpionfish in the eastern Atlantic, growing up to 50 cm long.
Also known as: large-scaled scorpion fish, red scorpionfish, red scorpion-fish, bigscale scorpionfish, red scorpion fish, largescaled scorpion-fish, largescaled scorpionfish, orange scorpionfish, whiskery scorpionfish, scorpionfish, red scorpionfish, crayfish cod
- Length
- 30 cm · max 50 cm
- Weight
- max 3 kg
- Depth
- up to 500 m
How to tell it apart
Several scorpionfish share this camouflaged, spiny look. The fleshy tentacle above each eye, paired with a dark spot near the front of the spiny dorsal fin, helps separate this species from smaller or plainer scorpionfish.
Appearance
This fish has a stocky, mottled body in shades of brick red to light pink, covered in dark blotches that help it blend into rock and rubble. It carries venomous spines along its back and a fleshy tentacle above each eye. Many individuals show a dark spot near the front of the spiny dorsal fin. It commonly reaches around 30 cm and can weigh close to 3 kg.
Habitat
It lives on rocky, sandy, or muddy bottoms from 20 m down to 500 m, though most are found in the shallower part of that range. By day it hides in burrows and caves, coming out to hunt at night. It is found through the Mediterranean Sea, the eastern Atlantic from the British Isles south to Senegal and the Canary Islands, and along parts of southern Africa and the western Indian Ocean.
Did you know?
Its scientific name, scrofa, is Latin for a breeding sow. Early naturalists thought scorpionfish fed on mud and weed like pigs, so this fish ended up with a pig-themed name, much like the old English nickname "hogfish".
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
