Medinin

The family Scorpaenidae contains around 45 genera and 380 species.

Gaming Beaver Fish Feed And Grow Sea Scorpion

Basically fish-shaped with sharklike fins, large widely-spaced scutes along the back and sides that are directly identified as being like a very large sturgeon. Sometimes turn up on sonar fish-finders moving around at depths, at which time they can again be reported as up to 60 feet long, but doubtless much smaller ordinarily. Zoologist, media consultant, and science writer, Dr Karl Shuker is also one of the best known cryptozoologists in the world. He is the author of such seminal works as Mystery Cats of the World (1989), The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the 20th Century (1993; greatly expanded in 2012 as The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals), Dragons: A Natural History (1995), In Search.

Characteristics

Scorpionfishes have large, heavily ridged and spined heads. Venomous spines on their back and fins with a groove and venom sack. Well camouflaged with tassels, warts and colored specks. Some scorpionfishes can change their color to better match their surroundings. The stonefish is a master of disguise and deception, it looks like a piece of coral or sand covered rock. Thus he can blend in with its surroundings and go unnoticed by its prey.

Ecology and range

Most scorpion fishes live on or near the bottom. They lie in crevices, in caves and under overhangs. Range: Red Sea , pacific ocean to Australia, Hawaii. A few scorpionfishes (no lionfishes or stonefishes) live in the Caribbean.

Behavior

They feed on crustaceans, cephalopods and fishes employing a lie-in-wait strategy, remaining stationary and snapping prey that comes near. With their mouth they create a vacuum and suck prey in during a nearly imperceptible split-second movement (15 milliseconds).

Some have algae and hydroid growth on their body surfaces( stonefish) and at least one species (Decoy scorpionfish Iracundus signifier) has a dorsal fin that looks like a swimming fish, a behavior similar to that of the frogfish. Some species (for example the weed scorpionfish) sway their bodies from side to side so they look like a piece of debris.

Scorpionfishes are not aggressive, but if threatened they will erect their dorsal spines. If danger continues they flee, usually very fast but only for a short distance and then quickly settle back and freeze. The stonefishes for example ususally bury themselves in sand or rubble using a shoveling motion of their pectoral fins. In a matter of less than 10 seconds only the dorsal portion of the head remains exposed, some sand is thrown on top to further enhancing concealment. Some species like the devilfish have very bright red and yellow colors on the inner surface of their pectoral fins. Those colors are not visible when resting but are flashed if threatened.

Scorpion fishes produce a floating, gelatinous mass in which the eggs are embedded.

• Scientific name: Myoxocephalus scorpius
  
• Also know as: Bull Rout, Bullhead, Greater Bullhead, Sculpin, Short-horn Sea Sculpin, Father Lasher, Rock Sculpin, Clobberhead, Pig Fish, Devilfish
• Size: Generally under 1ft in length, but can reach 2ft length and 3lbs
• UK minimum size: 8ins / 20cm
• UK shore caught record: 2lb 7oz
• IUCN Status: NE (Not Evaluated)
• Distribution: Common around all of the British Isles and northern European waters. Also found along the eastern coast of the US and Canada.
• Feeds on: Anything it can find including fish the same size as itself.
• Description: Squat fish with very large head and mouth relative to its body size. Rest of the scaleless body is thin and tapering. Two spiky dorsal fins with only a very small gap between them. Spines on gill covers and head and small spikes running down the lateral line. Usually mottled brown/green in colour with red/orange belly, but colour can vary greatly between fish, with some specimens being very brightly coloured (especially during the breeding season).
• Additional notes: This species is often confused with its smaller and more common relative, the long-spined sea scorpion.

The short-spined sea scorpion is a species of fish which has a wide distribution around the British Isles. It lives in relatively deep water which means it is a somewhat uncommon species for shore anglers to catch (although its smaller and more common relative, the long-spined sea scorpion is caught much more often by anglers).

The short-spined sea scorpion can exceptionally grow to around three pounds in weight, although the average size of this species is less than a third of this. They can be found across rocky and mixed seabeds, usually at depths down to around one hundred metres, although it has been found deeper than this on rare occasions. They are aggressive feeders which will launch ambush attacks on other fish (which can be almost as large as the sea scorpion itself) and they will also scavenge for food on the seabed. The spines on the short-spined sea scorpion do not carry any venom, although they can cause a puncture wound to anglers who mishandle this species. Like shark, ray and tuna species the short-spined sea scorpion has no swim bladder and sinks as soon as it stops swimming.

A short-spined sea scorpion in its natural environment.

Gaming Beaver Fish Feed And Grow Sea Scorpion

The rarity of short-spined sea scorpions means that anglers do not target this species specifically, but they can be caught inadvertently, usually by anglers using worm, fish or crab baits for cod, bass or flatfish. The UK record for this species currently stands at 2lb 7oz and was caught by B. G. Logan in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside in 1982.

The short-spined sea scorpion is often confused with its smaller cousin, the long-spined sea scorpion (Taurulus bubalis). The key differences between the two species are:

The Gaming Beaver Fish Feed And Grow Sea Scorpion

• The long-spined sea scorpion is smaller, rarely exceeding 15 – 20cm in length and a few ounces in weight. The short-spined sea scorpion is larger, reaching up to 60cm in length and 3lbs in weight (although they are usually smaller than this).
• As the name suggests the long-spined sea scorpion has longer spines (they are longer than the eye diameter) whereas the short-spined sea scorpion has smaller spines (shorter than eye diameter).
• The long-spined sea scorpion has small white barbels (lappets) on either side of the mouth. These are not present in the short-spined sea scorpion.
• If on the underside of the long-spined sea scorpion the gill membrane is attached to the throat. In the short-spined sea scorpion the gill membrane is not attached and the gills are visible from the underside of the fish.

Short-spined sea scorpions are not generally consumed by humans, with only Nordic countries having any demand for this species (and even in these countries the number of sea scorpions eaten is minimal). For this reason short-spined sea scorpions are not targeted by commercial vessels and any which are caught are likely to be discarded overboard as bycatch, although in some cases they may be retained to be turned into fishmeal.