# 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:
| 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 (USA), 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 (Sauvage, 1878 | | Canary Islands and Madeira Island |
| Scorpaena cardinalis Solander & J. Richardson, 1842 | eastern red scorpionfish | northern New Zealand and offshore islands of the Tasman Sea |
| Scorpaena cocosensis Motomura, 2004 | | Cocos Island and Galápagos |
| Scorpaena colorata (C. H. Gilbert, 1905) | | 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 (USA), 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 (USA), Bahamas, and Yucatan (Mexico) 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 (J. G. Schneider & J. R. Forster, 1801) | 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 (rare) 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 Wibowo & Motomura, 2020 | | southwestern Australia |
| Scorpaena wellingtoni Victor, 2013 | | Cove on Isla Isabela in the Galápagos |

## Characteristics

Scorpaena scorpionfishes have a very bony head which is armed with numerous spines. There is a horizontal bony ridge beneath the eyes with 1-4 spines. They have an occipital pit. The uppermost spine on the preoperculum is the longest. There are patches of teeth on the roof of the mouth and at its sides. There are 12 spines and between 7 and 10 soft rays in the dorsal fin while the anal fin has 3 spines and 5 soft rays. There are 16 to 21 fin rays in the pectoral fin with some of the upper rays being branched in adults. They have relatively large scales and the scales on the body are smooth. The lateral line is complete and its scales are tubed. They vary in size from a total length of 5.6 cm (2.2 in) in S. pascuensis to 45.7 cm (18.0 in) in S. mystes.

## Distribution and habitat

Scorpaena scorpionfishes are found in the tropical and warm temperate zones of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are demersal fishes occurring in a number of habitats but are typically found in rocky or coralline habitats.

## Biology

Scorpaena scorpionfishes are solitary, ambush predators which use their cryptically patterned, irregularly shaped bodies to camouflage themselves on the substrate. They have large mouths and will eat prey up to half their own size, the vortex created by the sudden opening of the mouth drawing the prey in. They have venomous spines which can inflict serious injuries on humans.

## Fisheries

Scorpaena scorpionfishes are caught by recreational and commercial fisheries in some parts of the world. The flesh is regarded as very palatable.