Scorpaena brasiliensis
Barbfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfishes)
Scorpaena
Scorpaena brasiliensis (Barbfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
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Characters
Head and snout are moderately short, and eye is of moderate size. Teeth are small and arranged in narrow bands in jaws, palatine, and vomer. Preorbital bone has two spinous points over maxilla. Suborbital ridge has three spinous points, with first two blunt. Nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, anterior and posterior parietal, lower posttemporal, one or two sphenotic, supracleithral, and pterotic spines are present. Cleithral spine is small in juveniles and often absent in adults. Preoperculum has 5 spines, with first bearing small supplemental spine and extending to middle of operculum, second equal or subequal to third, and fourth and fifth moderate to small. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 39%–47%, snout length 9%–11%, orbit diameter 10%–14%, interorbital width 4%–7%, jaw length 20%–24%, body depth 32%–40%. Gill rakers on first arch number 4 or 5 on upper limb and 8 to 10 on lower limb. Slit behind fourth gill arch is lacking. Pectoral fin has 18 to 20 rays, with uppermost unbranched, next 7 to 10 branched, and remainder unbranched in specimens greater than 50 mm SL. Dorsal fin has 12 spines and 8 (rarely 9) rays. Anal fin has 3 spines and 5 rays. Supraorbital tentacle is well developed but shorter than orbit diameter. Scales are cycloid, and lateral line scales are pored and number 23 or 24. Vertebrae number 24, and gas bladder is absent.
Scorpaena brasiliensis is mottled red, orange, or blue above and pale below. Large dark spot is present on upper flank behind operculum, several spots occur on pale axil of pectoral fin, and two dark bands are located on tail.
Distribution
western Atlantic from Virginia to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Greater and Lesser Antilles
northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
between the shoreline and 163 m, generally associated with soft bottoms but occasionally found on coral reefs
soft bottoms, coral reefs
Biology
Food consists of crabs, shrimps, and ray-finned fishes.
Maximum known size is 250 mm SL.
Commonly found in bays, harbors, and on the continental shelf. Inhabits soft bottoms. Traded as an aquarium fish at Ceará, Brazil (Ref. 49392).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 36715).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-21. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Eschmeyer 1965b
Eschmeyer 1969b
Randall 1968a
Randall 1996
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Uyeno and Sato 1983b
Robins and Ray 1986
Cervigón 1991
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Poss and Eschmeyer 2002
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Moser, H.G. (1996) Scorpaenidae: scorpionfishes and rockfishes. p. 733-795. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. 1505 p.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
Comments On Scorpaena brasiliensis