''Scorpaenodes'' is a widespread

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Scorpaenidae The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family (biology), family of mostly ocean, 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 ...

, the scorpionfishes. The fishes in this genus are found to the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, Indian and

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

Taxonomy

''Scorpaenodes'' was first formally described as a genus in 1857 by the Dutch

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

and

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, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, Ichthyology, ichthyologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on ...

, Bleeker designated ''Scorpaena polylepsis'' as its

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

monotypy 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 "unispe ...

. He had originally described this species from Western

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

in 1851. ''S. polylepsis'' was later shown to be junior synonym of ''Scorpaena guamensis'' which had been described from Guam by

Jean René Constant Quoy Jean René Constant Quoy (10 November 1790 in Maillé, Vendée, Maillé – 4 July 1869 in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort) was a French naval surgeon, zoologist and anatomist. In 1806, he began his medical studies at the school of naval ...

and

Joseph Paul Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequen ...

in 1824 from

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. This genus is classified within the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Scorpaenini Scorpaenini is a tribe of marine ray-finned fishes, one of two tribes in the subfamily Scorpaeninae. This tribe contains the "typical" or "true" scorpionfishes. The taxonomy of the scorpionfishes is in some flux, the 5th Edition of Fishes of the ...

, in 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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Scorpaeninae Scorpaeninae is a subfamily of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae in the order Scorpaeniformes, it includes the scorpionfishes, the lionfishes and turkeyfishes. They bear venomous spines in the anal, dorsal and pelvic fins which ...

of the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name ''Scorpaenodes'' means having the form of '' Scorpaena'' the genus Bleeker originally placed the type species in.

Species

There are currently 29 recognized species in this genus: * '' Scorpaenodes africanus''

Pfaff PFAFF () is a German manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation ...

, 1933 * '' Scorpaenodes albaiensis'' ( Evermann & Seale, 1907) (Long-fingered scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes arenai'' Torchio, 1962 (Messina scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes barrybrowni'' Pitassy & C. C. Baldwin, 2016 (Stellate scorpionfish) Baldwin, C.C., Pitassy, D.E. & Robertson, D.R. (2016): A new deep-reef scorpionfish (Teleostei, Scorpaenidae, ''Scorpaenodes'') from the southern Caribbean with comments on depth distributions and relationships of western Atlantic members of the genus. ''ZooKeys, 606: 141–158.'' * '' Scorpaenodes bathycolus'' G. R. Allen & Erdmann, 2012 Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. (2012): Reef Fishes of the East Indies. ''Reef Fishes of the East Indies.'' Volumes I-III. Tropical Reef Research, Perth, Australia. 1292pp. University of Hawai'i Press. . * '' Scorpaenodes caribbaeus'' Meek &

Hildebrand Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword" ...

, 1928 (Reef scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes corallinus''

J. L. B. Smith James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyology, ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought t ...

, 1957 * '' Scorpaenodes elongatus'' Cadenat, 1950 (African spotted scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes englerti'' Eschmeyer & G. R. Allen, 1971 (Englert's scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes evides'' ( D. S. Jordan & W. F. Thompson, 1914) (Cheek-spot scorpionfish) Motomura, H., Arbsuwan, S. & Musikasinthorn, P. (2010)
''Thysanichthys evides'', a Senior Synonym of ''Sebastella littoralis'', and a Valid Species of ''Scorpaenodes'' (Actinopterygii: Scorpaenidae).
''Species Diversity, 15 (2): 71–81.'' * '' Scorpaenodes guamensis'' ( Quoy &

Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ...

, 1824) (Guam scorpionfish) Motomura, H., Causse, R. & Struthers, C.D. (2016): Redescription of the Indo-Pacific scorpionfish ''Scorpaenodes guamensis'' (Quoy & Gaimard 1824) (Scorpaenidae), a senior synonym of seven nominal species. ''Zootaxa, 4067 (3): 345–360.'' * '' Scorpaenodes hirsutus'' (J. L. B. Smith, 1957) (Hairy scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes immaculatus'' Poss & Collette, 1990 * '' Scorpaenodes insularis'' Eschmeyer, 1971 * '' Scorpaenodes investigatoris'' Rama Rao, 1972 * ''Scorpaenodes kelloggi">Kaza_V._Rama_Rao.html" ;"title="schmeyer & Rama Rao, 1972 * ''Scorpaenodes kelloggi'' (Oliver Peebles Jenkins">O. P. Jenkins, 1903) (Kellogg's scorpionfish) * ''Scorpaenodes minor">Kaza V. Rama Rao">Rama Rao, 1972 * ''Scorpaenodes kelloggi'' (Oliver Peebles Jenkins">O. P. Jenkins, 1903) (Kellogg's scorpionfish) * ''Scorpaenodes minor'' (J. L. B. Smith, 1958) (Minor scorpionfish) * ''Scorpaenodes muciparus'' (Alfred William Alcock, Alcock, 1889) * ''Scorpaenodes parvipinnis'' (Andrew Garrett (explorer), A. Garrett, 1864) (Low-fin scorpionfish) * ''Scorpaenodes quadrispinosus'' David Wayne Greenfield, D. W. Greenfield & Matsuura, 2002 (Four-spine scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes rubrivinctus'' Poss, McCosker & C. C. Baldwin, 2010 * '' Scorpaenodes scaber'' ( E. P. Ramsay & J. D. Ogilby, 1886) (Pygmy scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes smithi'' Eschmeyer & Rama Rao, 1972 (Little scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes steenei'' G. R. Allen, 1977 (Steene's scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes steinitzi'' Klausewitz & Frøiland, 1970 * '' Scorpaenodes tredecimspinosus'' ( Metzelaar, 1919) (Deep-reef scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes tribulosus'' Eschmeyer, 1969 * '' Scorpaenodes varipinnis'' J. L. B. Smith, 1957 (Blotch-fin scorpionfish) * '' Scorpaenodes xyris'' (D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1882) (Rainbow scorpionfish)

Characteristics

''Scorpaenodes'' scorpionfishes have a very bony head which is defended by numerous spines and lacks an occipital pit. There is a longitudinal suborbital ridge which has 1-4 spines and may have another row of spines underneath those. There are teeth on the centre of the roof of the mouth but not on its sides. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

has 13 spines and between 8 and 10 soft rays while the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

has 3 spines and 4 or 5 soft rays, the posteriormost dorsal and anal soft rays are branched. There are 15-20 fin rays in the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

with the lower rays being branched and the central rays being the longest. The scales are rough and typically extend onto the head. There are small spiny rays at top and bottom of the base of

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

. The largest species is ''S. africanus'' which has a maximum published total length of , however most species are less than in length.

Distribution and habitat

''Scorpaenodes'' scorpionfishes have a circum-tropical distribution and are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are found in coastal waters on coral and rocky reefs and other hard substrates.

References

{{Authority control Scorpaenini Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker Venomous fish Marine fish genera