Scorpaena plumieri
Spotted Scorpionfish
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfishes)
Scorpaena
Scorpaena plumieri (Spotted 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 of moderate size, snout is moderately long, and eye is relatively small. Teeth are small and arranged in narrow bands in jaws, palatine, and vomer. Second preorbital spinous point is closer to anterior spine than to posterior spine. Nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, anterior and posterior parietal, upper and lower posttemporal, pterotic, cleithral, and supracleithral spines are present. Preoperculum has 5 spines, with first bearing a supplemental spine. Gill rakers on first arch number 4 to 6 on upper limb and 8 to 12 on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 43%–47%, snout length 11%–14%, orbit diameter 8%–11%, interorbital width 8%–10%, upper jaw length 21%–25%, body depth 35%–42%. Pectoral fin has 18 to 21 rays. Dorsal fin has 12 spines and 9 rays. Anal fin has 3 spines and 5 rays. Scales are cycloid, and lateral line scales are pored and number 22 to 24.
Olive brown, with dark pigment concentrated between bases of rayed section of dorsal fin and anal fin, and caudal peduncle is pale. Fins are banded or blotched with dark pigment on pale background, caudal fin has three distinct bars, and axil of pectoral fin is black with white spots.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Massachusetts and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles.
Occurs throughout the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Rocky areas from near shore to 55 m, especially on reefs, jetties, and oil platforms in shallow water
Reefs, jetties, and oil platforms
Biology
Maximum known size is 430 mm SL
Found mostly in shallow coral reef and rocky areas. Lies motionless on the bottom (Ref. 9710). Feeds mostly on other fishes and crustaceans. Moderately common below about 5 m depth to at least 55 m. Displays characteristic bright white spots on dark background of pectoral axil when disturbed (Ref. 49392). Anterolateral glandular groove with venom gland (Ref. 57406). Eaten locally and said to taste a bit like chicken. 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 2014-07-14. Resilience: Low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Eschmeyer 1965b
Eschmeyer 1969b
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Randall 1968a
Randall 1996
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Castro-Aguirre and Márquez-Espinoza 1981
Uyeno and Sato 1983b
Robins and Ray 1986
Cervigón 1991
Boschung 1992
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Poss and Eschmeyer 2002
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Edwards, A. (1990) Fish and fisheries of Saint Helena Island. Centre for Tropical Coastal Management Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
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.
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.
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.
Smith-Vaniz, W.F., B.B. Collette and B.E. Luckhurst (1999) Fishes of Bermuda: history, zoogeography, annotated checklist, and identification keys. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 4. 424 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.
Yáñes-Arancibia, A., A.L. Lara-Domínguez and J.W. Day Jr. (1993) Interactions between mangrove and seagrass habitats mediated by estuarine nekton assemblages: coupling of primary and secondary production. Hydrobiologia 264:1-12.
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.
Simon, T., H.T. Pinheiro, R.L. Moura, A. Carvalho-Filho, L.A. Rocha, A.S. Martins, E. Mazzei, R.B. Francini-Filho, G.M. Amado-Filho and J.-C. Joyeux (2016) Mesophotic fishes of the Abrolhos Shelf, the largest reef ecosystem in the South Atlantic. J. Fish Biol. 89:990-1001. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12967
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