''Scorpaenodes evides'', the cheekspot scorpionfish, little scorpionfish or shore scorpionfish, is a species of venomous marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family

Scorpaenidae 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 ...

, the scorpionfishes. This species is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Scorpaenodes evides'' was first formally described in 1914 as ''Thysanichthys evides'' by the American

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

and

William Francis Thompson William Francis Thompson (born St. Cloud, Minnesota 1888, died 7 November 1965) was an American ichthyologist and fisheries scientist. He researched the exploitation and management of the stocks of Pacific halibut for the fisheries department ...

with the type locality given as Misaki in Japan. However, this taxon was not reported subsequently and a re-examination of the holotype in 2010 showed that this was the same species as the widely distributed ''Sebastella littoralis'' which had been described in 1917 by the Japanese ichthyologist Shigeho Tanaka, also from Misaki, and that this taxon should be placed in the genus ''

Scorpaenodes ''Scorpaenodes'' is a widespread genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. The fishes in this genus are found to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Scorpaenodes'' was first formally ...

'', with ''S. littoralis'' being a

junior 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, Linna ...

of ''S. evides''. This study also recognised no less than seven separate geographic populations, some of which may be

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

and that the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

''S. e. evides'' may only occur Japan and Taiwan. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''evides'' means “pretty”, the authors did not explain their choice of name.

Description

''Scorpaenodes evides'' has 13 spines and 9 soft rays in its dorsal fin with 3 spines and 5 soft rays in its

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 ...

. The front of the body is not strobly compressed but compression increases towards the caudal fin. The body is moderately deep, its depth being smaller than the length of the head. There is a tentacle on the front nostril. This species colour is brownish to pink or reddish with a dark blotch on the ventral part of the operculumthe fins have red spots and there are leaf-like skin flaps on the head. This species grows to in total length.

Distribution and habitat

''Scoraenodes evides'' has a wide

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

distribution.In Africa it is found on the eastern coast of South Africa and in the Red Sea, through the Indian and Pacific Oceans as far east as Easter Island and Hawaii. It occurs as far north as southern Japan, and as far south as Australia where it is found from the Houtman Abrolhos of Western Australia along the northern coasts of Australia as far as Jervis Bay in New South Wales, as well as at Lord Howe Island and Elizabeth and Middleton reefs. This species is a

demersal fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They occ ...

found mainly in shallow tropical marine waters at depths of , on rocky and coral reefs. It is frequently seen upside down on the roofs of caves.

Biology

The spines in the dorsal fin are venomous.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2800635

evides ''Evides'' is a genus of beetles in the family Buprestidae Buprestidae is a family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy iridescent colors. Larvae of this family are known as flatheaded bor ...

Venomous fish Fish described in 1914 Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by William Francis Thompson