Eschmeyer's Scorpionfish at the Solitaries

This amazingly camouflaged fish was photographed by Ian Shaw at a depth of about 12m, at North West Solitary Island, northern New South Wales.

Ian, along with the rest us needed help identifying the fish so we turned to scorpionfish expert, Dr Hiroyuki Motomura who works at the Kagoshima University Museum. Hiro stated, "About 48 scale rows in the longitudinal series, 17 pectoral-fin rays, and shape of the head and snout found in the photographed fish and its locality indicate that it is Scorpaenopsis eschmeyeri. The observation is a new southerly record for the species."

Ian's observation extends the known distribution of the species south by more than 300km from Moreton Bay, Queensland. In Australia, Eschmeyer's Scorpionfish occurs in tropical waters from far northern Queensland down to North West Solitary Island (Ian's new observation).

It is a coral reef-dwelling species that lives at depths from 0-60m.

Reference:

• Australian Faunal Directory