Description: The largest scorpionfish found in Madeira. Large, spinous head, with strong bones. A single dorsal fin composed of spines and soft rays. Most of the head, chest and pectoral fin base naked; scales on the sides. Numerous tentacles present on the lower jaw. Colouration variable, usually brownish; smaller specimens with 5 poorly defined saddle-like patches along the dorsal fin. Fins blotched or mottled; dorsal fin with a single black spot usually present on the spinous part.
Global Distribution: Eastern Atlantic: British Isles to Senegal including Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. Also throughout the Mediterranean except Black Sea. Possibly in South Africa. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 50.0 cm (total lenght); common length 30.0 cm (TL); maximum published weight 3.0 kg.
Depth range: FishBase: 20 - 500 m, usually ? - 150 m.
Canary Islands (Brito et al. 2002): 5 - 400 m.
Habitat: Demersal. Found over rocky, sandy or muddy bottoms.
Feeding habits: Feeds on fishes, crustaceans and molluscs.
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.3
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species. Commercially it is not distinguished from other Scorpaena spp.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety: Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 120.7 kcal (6.0% DRV)
protein 26.65 g (53.3% DRV)
fat 0.76 g (1.1% DRV)
of which saturates 0.262 g (1.3% DRV)
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids 0.363
REFERENCES
Brito A., Pascual P.J., Falcón J.M., Sancho A., González G. (2002). Peces de las islas Canarias. Catálogo comentado e ilustrado. Francisco Lemos Editor, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 418 pp.
Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
Eschmeyer W.N. (1969). A Systematic Review of the Scorpionfishes of the Atlantic Ocean (Pisces: Scorpaenidae). Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences, 79: i-iv + 1-143.
Ferreira S., Sousa R., Delgado J., Carvalho D., Chada T. (2008). Weight-length relationships for demersal fish species caught off the Madeira archipelago (eastern-central Atlantic). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 24: 93-95.
González J., Hernández C., Marrero P., Rapp E. (2000). Peces de Canarias: GuÃa Submarina (5th edition). Francisco Lemus Editor, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canarias, Spain, 235 pp.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Mendes B., Fonseca P., Campos A. (2004). Weight–length relationships for 46 fish species of the Portuguese west coast. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 20(5): 355-361.
Nieto A., Ralph G.M., Comeros-Raynal M.T., Kemp J., GarcÃa Criado M., Allen D.J., Dulvy N.K., Walls R.H.L., Russell B., Pollard D., GarcÃa S., Craig M., Collette B.B., Pollom R., Biscoito M., Labbish Chao N., Abella A., Afonso P., Ãlvarez H., Carpenter K.E., Clò S., Cook R., Costa M.J., Delgado J., Dureuil M., Ellis J.R., Farrell E.D., Fernandes P., Florin A-B., Fordham S., Fowle, S., Gil de Sola L., Gil Herrera J., Goodpaster A., Harvey M., Heessen H., Herler J., Jung A., Karmovskaya E., Keskin C., Knudsen S.W., Kobyliansky S., KovaÄić M., Lawson J.M., Lorance P., McCully Phillips S., Munroe T., Nedreaas K., Nielsen J., Papaconstantinou C., Polidoro B., Pollock C.M., Rijnsdorp A.D., Sayer C., Scott J., Serena F., Smith-Vaniz W.F., Soldo A., Stump E., Williams J.T. (2015). Europen Red List of Marine Fishes. IUCN and European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 90 pp.
Nogueira N., Cordeiro N., Aveiro M.J. (2012). Chemical composition, fatty acids profile and cholesterol content of commercialized marine fishes captured in Northeastern Atlantic. Journal of Fisheries Sciences, 7(3): 271-286.
Rosa A., Menezes G., Melo O., Pinho M.R. (2006). Weight–length relationships of 33 demersal fish species from Azores archipelago. Fisheries Research, 80(2): 329-332.
