Scorpaena elachys
Dwarf Scorpionfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfishes)
Scorpaena
Scorpaena elachys (Dwarf Scorpionfish)
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.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Head is relatively large, snout is of moderate length, 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 occasionally has two small spinous points posteriorly. Nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, one or two sphenotic, frontal, anterior and posterior parietal, pterotic, upper and lower posttemporal, and cleithral spines are present. Preoperculum has 5 spines, with first bearing small supplemental spine and extending less than half the width of operculum, second smaller than third, fourth broader and shorter than fifth, and fifth pointing anteroventrally. Gill rakers on first arch number 4 or 5 on upper limb and 10 or 11 on lower limb. Slit behind fourth gill arch is absent. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 47%–51%, snout length 11%–13%, orbit diameter 14%–16%, interorbital width about 5%, upper jaw length 24%–27%, body depth 38%–41%. Pectoral fin has 17 (rarely 16) rays, with uppermost unbranched, second or third to fifth or sixth branched, and remainder unbranched in specimens greater than 50 mm SL. Dorsal fin has 12 spines and 8 or 9 rays. Anal fin has 3 spines and 5 rays. Scales are cycloid, and lateral line scales are pored and number 23. Supraorbital tentacle is relatively short. Vertebrae number 24, and gas bladder is absent.
Reddish, with several narrow light and dark lines below dorsal fin, and inner surface of operculum is blackish.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Florida to the Antilles, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico off southern Florida.
Habitat Associations
Between 55 and 90 m depth
Biology
About 50 mm SL
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-20. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Eschmeyer 1965b
Eschmeyer 1969b
Robins and Ray 1986
Smith 1997
Poss and Eschmeyer 2002
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.
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.
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