Photo by Adriaan Johnson Photo by Sharon Albert/Georgina Jones Photo by Jeff Corbett Photo by Peter Southwood Photo by Georgina Jones	Tasseled scorpionfish Scorpaenopsis oxycephala Tasseled (or smallscale) scorpionfish are true members of the scorpionfish family, Scorpaenidae, to which lionfish and the highly venomous stonefish belong. It too has venom in its dorsal fin spines, so do not handle it! The distribution in the literature is given as Indo-Pacific, south to Aliwal Shoal, but its regular sighting in False Bay may indicate that its distribution is further west than initially thought. We still have to see if it remains in the area, so for those diving on outer reefs and the Smitswinkel bay wrecks: keep your eyes open and send us your images! The colour of this fish is highly variable, as the images show. All photos and drawings I looked up in the various fish guides show a differently-coloured fish. The photo by Jeff Corbett, showing the bright yellow patches, is particularly interesting, as all other fish are much more mottled. Other fish may have a dominant colour in the same area - a specimen in a photo by Adriaan Johnson just has it in a less conspicuous pink. Initially it was thought that these fish were raggy scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis venosa, but further investigation revealed that it is much more likely to be the very similar tasseled scorpionfish. The differences are minute, and barely visible, except for one: The raggy scorpionfish has 16 to 18 pectoral fin rays, with 17 being the most common, while the tasseled scorpionfish has 19 or 20. The tasseled scorpionfish has smaller scales due to a larger scale count (counted 2 or 3 rows above lateral line from the first scale of the lateral line to the base of the caudal fin base), hence the alternative name "smallscale". The raggy scorpionfish has a marked quadrangular depression behind the eyes - the "occipital pit", absent in the tasseled scorpionfish. (See photo by Georgina Jones.) Most importantly, the raggy scorpionfish attains a length of only 18 cm, while the tasseled scorpionfish can attain 35 cm. Some of the fish seen were reported to be larger than 18 cm. The tasseled scorpionfish is more common in South African waters, and it is probably more likely that a more common species migrate elsewhere than a less common one. We asked divers who have seen this fish to give details of location, depth, dates seen and approximate length: First record: 18 July 2004. Locations: Birthday reef, Batsata, Pie Rock, Partridge Point, Smitswinkel bay wrecks (Good Hope, Rockeater, Oratava), Whittle Rock, Castle Rock pinnacles (see map). Depths: 15 to 35m It is very likely that more fish can be found on any reef further offshore, including Boat/Bakoven Rock and Outer Castle, possibly even further offshore from Castle rocks, and on reefs offshore from A-Frame, Windmill, and even Photographers reef/JJM. All photos were taken in False Bay, on deeper reefs further offshore, and on the Smitswinkel bay wrecks.
References: Thanks to Adriaan Johnson, Andrew Taylor, Georgina Jones, Jeff Corbett, Peter Southwood, Robert Wilson and Phil Heemstra for information. Smiths' Sea Fishes, MM Smith and PC Heemstra, 1986. Two Oceans, a guide to the marine life of Southern Africa, GM Branch, CL Griffiths, ML Branch and LE Beckley, 1994. Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa, PC Heemsta and E Heemstra, 2004. Coral Reef Fishes, E Lieske and R Myers, 1999. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, JE Randall, GR Allen and RC Steene, 1990. Coastal fishes of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay, a divers' identification guide, G Zsilavecz, 2005. www.fishbase.org
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