Scorpaena mystes
Stone Scorpionfish
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfishes)
Scorpaena
Scorpaena mystes (Stone Scorpionfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal.
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: California, USA (Ref. 28023) to northern Chile, including the Galapagos Islands.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 0-30 m. Found in: coral reefs.
Biology
Found in shallow water and seaweed-covered reefs as well as on open, sandy areas (Ref. 5592). An opportunistic predator, this cryptic fish lies unseen on the reef top waiting for small fishes to pass by (Ref. 5592). Although the flesh is of excellent quality, it is not utilized commercially due to its venomous spines (Ref. 9341).
Max length: 45.7 cm TL; common length: 30.4 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2008-05-01. Resilience: Low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; gamefish.
References
Humann, P. and N. DeLoach (1993) Reef fish identification. Galápagos. New World Publications, Inc., Florida. 267 p.
Thomson, D.A. (1987) Reef fishes of the Sea of Cortez. The rocky-shore fishes of the Gulf of California. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 302 p.
Grove, J.S. and R.J. Lavenberg (1997) The fishes of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 863 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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