Scorpaena notata Rafinesque, 1810

Common Name and Size

This species, commonly called the small red scorpionfish, has a maximum body length of around 20 cm (8 in), while most fully grown adults measure roughly 15 cm (6 in) long.

Head Morphology

It has a broad head with a short snout and an upward-angled mouth. A short tentacle sits just above its eye, and its head is additionally decorated with various other shorter tentacles, spines, and flaps of skin.

Fin Structure

Its dorsal fin has twelve spines and nine soft rays, and its anal fin has two spines and six soft rays. Its large, oval pectoral fins have between seventeen and nineteen rays.

Scalation

It has around forty-four vertical rows of scales along its body, while its head, chest, and the bases of its pectoral fins have no scales.

Body Coloration

Its body is generally reddish-brown in color, with a large, semicircular dark pigmented spot located between the sixth and tenth dorsal spines.

Fin Coloration

Its fins are spotted with brown, and its caudal fin has no vertical bars.

General Distribution Range

The small red scorpionfish is native to the subtropical eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea.

Eastern Atlantic Range

In the eastern Atlantic, its range extends south from the Bay of Biscay to Madeira, the Azores, the Canary Islands, and the northwestern coast of Africa as far south as Senegal.

Mediterranean Range

It can be found throughout the entire Mediterranean Sea, but is uncommon in the Adriatic Sea.

Black Sea Subspecies

In the Black Sea, it occurs as the subspecies Scorpaena notata afimbria.

Depth Range

It is most often a littoral (shallow coastal) species, but can also be found in deeper water as far down as about 700 m (2,297 ft).