Black Scorpionfish
Scorpaena porcus
Small Red Scorpionfish
Scorpaena notata
About
The small red scorpionfish is a venomous ambush hunter that rests motionless on rocky bottoms, blending into its surroundings. It reaches a common length of 12 cm, with the largest growing to 26 cm.
- Length
- 12 cm · max 26 cm
- Depth
- up to 700 m
How to tell it apart
Several reddish scorpionfish share these rocky reefs, but this one carries a large, half-moon-shaped dark spot on the rear part of its dorsal fin that similar species lack.
Appearance
It has a broad head with a short snout and an upward-angled mouth, decorated with a short tentacle above each eye and smaller spines and skin flaps across the head. Its pectoral fins are large and rounded. The body is reddish-brown, and its fins carry brown spots, though the tail fin itself has no bars or bands.
Habitat
It lives on rocky bottoms across the temperate and subtropical eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. It usually stays in shallow, rocky ground close to shore but can also be found much deeper, down to 700 m.
Did you know?
In 2017, scientists discovered a previously unknown parasitic flatworm, Microcotyle algeriensis, living on the gills of this scorpionfish, on specimens collected off the coast of Algeria.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
