The channelled rockfish (''Setarches guentheri''), also known as the deepwater scorpionfish, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

, belonging to the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Setarchinae Setarchinae, the deep-sea bristly scorpionfishes, is a small subfamily of deep-sea ray-finned fishes, it is part of the family Scorpaenidae. They are small marine fishes, growing up to 25 cm, and are found in tropical and subtropical waters ...

, the

deep-sea bristly scorpionfish Setarchinae, the deep-sea bristly scorpionfishes, is a small subfamily of deep-sea ray-finned fishes, it is part of the family Scorpaenidae. They are small marine fishes, growing up to 25 cm, and are found in tropical and subtropical waters ...

es, part of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

. It has a wide distribution in tropical and subtropical oceans.

Taxonomy

The channelled rockfish was first formally described in 1862 by the English

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

James Yate Johnson James Yate Johnson (1820, in Kendal, Westmorland – 2 February 1900, in Funchal) was an English naturalist. Johnson lived in Madeira from around 1851, studied marine fish, crustacea, sea anemones and sponges and terrestrial spiders, flowering pl ...

with the type locality given as

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. In his description Johnson placed the new species in the new

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Setarches''. Subsequent workers added other species to this genus but in 1966

William N. Eschmeyer William Neil Eschmeyer, also known as Bill Eschmeyer, is an American ichthyologist. He is the founder and developer of the database and reference work Catalog of Fishes, hosted by the California Academy of Sciences and available both on-line and i ...

and Bruce B. Collette synonymised most of these with ''S. guentheri'' making ''Setarches'' consist only of this species and ''S. longimanus''. This was later re-examined and 3 species were accepted as belonging to the genus ''Setarches'': '' S. armata'', ''S. guentheri'' and '' S. longimanus''. A review in 2021 by Wada, Kai & Motomura resurrected the genus ''

Lythrichthys ''Lythrichthys'', the red deepwater scorpionfishes, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the subfamily Setarchinae, the deep-sea bristly scorpionfishes, part of the family Scorpaenidae. They are native to the Pacific Ocean. Taxonom ...

'', they

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of which was '' L. eulabes'', one of the names Eschmeyer and Collette had regarded as synonymous with ''S. longimanus'', placing ''S. cypho'' (which had also been treated as a synonym of ''Setarches longimanus'') and ''S. longimanus'' and two newly described species in the resurrected genus ''

''. ''S. armata'' is now considered to be a synonym of the flathead '' Thysanophrys armata''. This left the channelled rockfish (''Setarches guentheri'') as the only species in the now monotypic ''Setarches''. As of January 2022 this change has been accepted by

Catalog of Fishes Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the scientific names of fish species and genera. It is global in its scope and is hosted by the California Academy of Sciences. It has been compiled and is continuously up ...

. The genus name ''Setarches'' was not explained by Johnson, it may be derived from ''saeta'' meaning "bristle" while 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 ...

honours Johnson's friend, the German-born British ichthyologist and

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive re ...

Description

The channelled rockfish has a body which has a depth that is equivalent to 28-37% of its standard length, with the larger fish having less deep bodies than the smaller fish. There are 11-13 spines and 9-11 soft rays in the

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 ...

and 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 ...

has 3 spines and 4-6 soft rays. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

is almost continuous and is a trough covered by thin membranous scales, which are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. The second spine on the

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

is longer and better developed than the first and the third which are of similar length. Living specimens are pinkish red to orange with reddish black spots on the head and body. In smaller individuals the colour is more reddish grey with black spots and the smallest fishes, c. , have dark colouration concentrated in a patch above the

pectoral 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 ...

and below the soft rayed part of the dorsal fin, with a smaller amount of dark colour 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 ...

. This species grows to 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 .

Distribution and habitat

The channelled rockfish has the widest distribution of any scorpeanid. It has a circumglobal range on continental shelves in tropical and warm temperate oceans. In the eastern Atlantic it is found from Madeira south to South Africa, In the western Atlantic it is found from off southern

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

south to northern Brazil, including the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. It occurs along the Pacific coasts of the Americas from southern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

to Chile and across the Pacific and Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa. Despite this wide range there is very little genetic difference between widely separated populations of the channelled rockfish. It is a benthopelagic species which has a depth range of over soft bottoms and with a water temperature between .

Biology

The channelled rockfish live close to the bottom but tends to feed in the water column. It feeds predominantly on pelagic invertebrates. In the Gulf of Mexico, the diet is dominated by benthic crustaceans, like the shrimp and prawns in the genus '' Oplophorus'' and a variety of

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descri ...

. The psines in the fins bear

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

glands and they can envemonate humans if handled.

Fisheries

Chanelled rockfish are sometimes caught in fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and are of slight commercial value in Mexico.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2855889 Fish described in 1862 Taxa named by James Yate Johnson Setarchinae