A mottled ambush scorpionfish of reef slopes, nineteen centimeters (7.5 in), and one of a group that gives fish identification a bad name.
The genus contains several species here that differ mainly in the pattern under the pectoral fins, the shape of the hump behind the head and the arrangement of skin flaps - features that need the fish to move, or to be photographed from underneath, before they can be checked. Color is no help at all: any of them can be red, brown, gray or purple depending on where they are sitting.
What can be said reliably is the behavior, and it is the same for all of them: sit still on the bottom, look like rubble, and strike anything small that comes within a body length. This one hunts at night and spends the day motionless in the open.
Venomous dorsal spines, no aggression, and the usual first aid - hot water at 45 C (113 F) and a doctor. If you photograph one, get the pectoral fin undersides; that is the frame that names it.
The genus. Scorpaenopsis Heckel 1837 - opsis (appearance). ETYFish
The species. Scorpaenopsis possi Randall & Eschmeyer 2002 - Honours Stuart G. Poss. ETYFish
- mottled brown-red, with a pale patch on the rear half of the body in many fish
- hump behind the head, less pronounced than in the false stonefish
- underside of the pectoral fins pale with dark bands, shown when it moves
- length up to 19 cm
Why it's threatened
There are no known major threats towards this species.
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
