''Brachypterois serrulata'', the sawcheek scorpionfish or pygmy lionfish, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

scorpionfish The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venom ...

native to the northwestern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Taxonomy

''Brachypterois serrulata'' was first formally described in 1846 as ''Sebastes serrulatus'' by the Scottish

naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Speciali ...

, Arctic explorer and naturalist John Richardson with the type locality given as off Dong Kang in Picgtung in southern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. This taxon was widely considered as a

senior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

of Fowler's ''B. serrulifer''. However, a review of the genus published in 2013 and which examined many specimens of ''Brachypterois'' from across the wide distribution of the genus concluded that there were 3 valid species within the genus and that Fowler's ''B. serrilifer'' was a separate species from Richardson's ''B. serrulata''. The specific name ''serrulata'' is a diminutive of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''serra'' which means "

saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mo ...

" and is a reference to the low, slender and serrated crests on the head rather than the rows of spines which the other rockfishes in the genus ''

Sebastes ''Sebastes'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Sebastinae part of the family Scorpaenidae, most of which have the common name of rockfish. A few are called ocean perch, sea perch or redfish instead. They are found i ...

'', the genus Richardson placed it in, show.

Description

''Brachypterois serrulata'' has 13 spines and 10 or 11 soft rays in its

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

while the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

contains 3 spines and 5 or 6 soft rays. The pectoral fin has between 14 and 16 fin rays, with the mode being 15. The posterior lacrimal spine is normally directed backwards without being curved upward towards its tip. The spines on the corner of outer angular ridge are not well developed and are of similar size to the other spines on the ridge and are pointed downwards. There are often no spines on the middle lateral ridge on the maxilla, sometimed between 1 and 3 spines will be present on larger adult specimens with a

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

in excess of .This species attains a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of . The head and body have an overall colour which varies from pinkish to reddish brown, paler on the lower body with a ill-defined black blotch slightly smaller than the diameter of the orbit, on the operculum. The head is marked with 5 bands which are coloured dark red to black with the first of these running from the front margin of the eye over the snout and ending at the tip of the lower jaw. The second band extends from the lower, front edge of the eye onto the lacrimal bone and both jaws, the third runs from just underneath the eye to upper rear corner of the

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...

, the fourth from the lower rear margin of the eye to rear part of the operculum and the fifth runs from the rear margin of the eye to the operculum where it is continuous, to an extent, with the blotch. There are also 5 indistinct vertical, dark bands on the body, the 4th spine being y-shaped and the last being on the

caudal peduncle Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

. The background colour of the fins is a similar the pinkish to reddish brown of the head and body. There is a large dark red to black blotch on the spiny part of the dorsal fin with 4 or 5 dark red lines on soft-rayed portion, made up of dots. There are between 6 and 8 similar dotted dark red lines on the anal fin. The pectoral fins are darker towards their tips and have between 6 and 10 thin diagonal narrow dark red bands. There are 6 or 7 thin red to black bands on the

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

membrane is translucent with a dark red band on the margin, wider in small specimens, and between 60 and 110 small dark red spots on the fin rays. Th eye is bright yellow with a dark blue iris.

Distribution and habitat

''Brachypterois serrulata'' is found in the north western Pacific Ocean from the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...

to southern Japan, including the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

and

. Occurs in muddy, sheltered habitats in deep or very sheltered estuaries.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2648688 Pteroini Venomous fish Fish described in 1846 Taxa named by John Richardson (naturalist)