News and CommentsIchthyol Res (2004) 51: 188–189
DOI 10.1007/s10228-004-0207-9

Occurrence of Scorpaenopsis venosa (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae) on the Sayade Malha Bank, Indian Ocean
Hiroyuki Motomura
Received: December, 27, 2003 / Revised: January 13, 2004 / Accepted: January 19, 2004

Asingle specimen of the scorpionfish genus
Scorpaenopsis, collected from the Saya de MalhaBank (10°23⬘–33⬘ S, 61°32⬘–40⬘ E), western central IndianOcean, at a depth of 76–95 m during a bottom trawl operated by the Japan Marine Fishery Resources ResearchCenter (JAMARC) on 9 October 1977, was found in thecollection of the Tokyo University of Marine Science andTechnology (formerly Tokyo University of Fisheries). Thisspecimen (Fig. 1), registered as MTUF-P 24011 and measuring 126.5 mm standard length, is here identified as
Scorpaenopsis venosa (Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes,1829) on the basis of the following characters: 12 dorsal
spines; 17 pectoral fin rays on each side; no palatine teeth;
wide interorbital space (6.8 in head length); occipital pit
deep, quadrangular, its front edge straight and strongly angular. In addition to the diagnoses, characters of the present
specimen include 22 pored lateral line scales; 54 longitudinal scale rows; 5 ⫹ 11 gill rakers; approximately one-half ofeye extending above dorsal profile of head; interorbital
ridges prominent, originating between posterior nostrils
and extending to anterior edge of occipital pit; median interorbital ridge well developed, originating between posterior
nostrils and extending to center of interorbital space;supraocular tentacle absent; no extra spine anterior to each
tympanic spine; no coronal spines; parietal and nuchal
spines of approximately equal size, joined at base and in linewith tympanic spines; sphenotic with 3 small spines; lower
posttemporal spine larger than upper spine; lacrimal ridge
without a pointed tip; anterior lacrimal spine simple, horizontal, its tip reaching to dorsal margin of upper lip; posterior lacrimal spine broad, angling ventroposteriorly, associated with a long fimbriate flap and linked posteriorly tohead with fringed skin; suborbital ridge with 4 spines;
preopercle with 5 spines; upper opercular spine with 2points in left side (simple in right side); space between opercular spines without ridges. Proportional measurements aspercentages of standard length of the specimen are given inTable 1. These characters were also consistent with those ofS. venosa given by Randall and Eschmeyer (2002), with the
exception of the following counts: 54 longitudinal scale rows
(vs. 47–52 in the latter) and 11 gill rakers (included a raker
at the angle) on the lower limb (vs. 8–10). The small differences in counts may simply reflect individual variation. Fur-Fig. 1. Scorpaenopsis venosa, MTUF-P 24011, 126.5 mm standard
length, Saya de Malha Bank, western central Indian Ocean, 76–95 m
depth
Table 1. Proportional measurements of Scorpaenopsis venosa, expressed as percentages of standard length
MTUF-P 24011
Standard L (mm)Body depth
Body width
Head L
Snout L
Orbit diameter
Interorbital width
Upper jaw L
Postorbital L
Predorsal L
Preanal L
Prepelvic L
1st dorsal spine L
2nd dorsal spine L
3rd dorsal spine L
11th dorsal spine L
12th dorsal spine L
1st anal spine L
2nd anal spine L
3rd anal spine L
Pectoral fin LPelvic spine LCaudal fin L
Caudal peduncle L
Caudal peduncle depth
Length expressed as L

126.5
31.9
23.2
41.2
13.4
9.0
6.1
21.3
20.2
35.8
76.4
41.5
7.7
13.8
19.1
6.7
Broken
10.2
20.6
16.4
32.4
15.3
28.9
15.6
12.0

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thermore, the upper opercular spine tip in left side of thespecimen is divided into 2 (simple in right side), although
the spine of S. venosa is invariably simple (Randall andEschmeyer, 2002). It is considered that the divided upper
opercular spine in the present specimen is the result of agenetic or ontogenetic defect.
Scorpaenopsis venosa was recently redescribed byRandall and Eschmeyer (2002) on examination of 55 specimens from the Indo-West Pacific, ranging from the east
coast of South Africa to Queensland, Australia. The specimens were examined from depths of less than 2 m to 72 m,
with the majority from shallower than 25 m. Although considered common in the western Pacific Ocean, in the western Indian Ocean this species has so far been reported fromonly three localities, the northwest (20°23⬘ N, 70°08⬘ E)
and southwest (Kovalam, Kerala) coasts of India, and off
Durban Harbor, South Africa (Day, 1868; Gilchrist andThompson, 1909; Randall and Eschmeyer, 2002). Furthermore, although the species has to date been known only
from continental shelf localities and islands near the continents (Randall and Eschmeyer, 2002), the present specimen
was collected from the western central Indian Ocean, which
is approximately 1800 km away from the nearest continentalshelf. Accordingly, the present specimen collected from theSaya de Malha Bank at the depth of 76–95 m represents thefirst reliable record from outside the continental shelf andthe deepest capture record for the species. Further speci-189

mens from the region are required to assess the occurrence
and biological aspects of S. venosa.
Acknowledgments I am grateful to Hiroshi Kohno and Masato
Moteki, who kindly assisted me in searching through the collection
facility of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology,
Japan, for scorpionfish specimens. I thank the staff of JAMARC(Tokyo, Japan) for providing detailed collection data on the specimen,
Yuko Motomura (Chatswood, Australia) for her assistance, and Kerryn
Parkinson (Ichthyology, Australian Museum, Australia), who read themanuscript and offered helpful comments.

Literature Cited
Cuvier G, Valenciennes A (1829) Histoire naturelle des poissons, vol 4.
Levrault, Paris
Day F (1868) On some new or imperfectly known fishes of India. Proc
Zool Soc Lond 1867:699–707
Gilchrist JDF, Thompson WW (1909) Descriptions of fishes from thecoast of Natal (part II). Ann South Africa Mus 6:213–279
Randall JE, Eschmeyer WN (2002) (dated 2001) Revision of the IndoPacific scorpionfish genus Scorpaenopsis, with descriptions of eight
new species. Indo-Pac Fishes (34):1–79

Ichthyology, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney,
New South Wales 2010, Australia (e-mail:motomurah@austmus.gov.au)