Speckled Scorpionfish, Pontinus sierra
Speckled Scorpionfish, Pontinus sierra. Fish caught from coastal waters off Los Barriles, Baja California Sur, May 2020. Length: 22 cm (8.7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chip Shapley, Los Barriles.
Speckled Scorpionfish, Pontinus sierra. Fish caught off the Gordo II Bank with the Gordo Banks Pangas fleet, Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, December 2022. Length: 22 cm (8.7 inches). Note: the fish is somewhat unique and appears to have two gill openings.
Speckled Scorpionfish, Pontinus sierra. Fish caught from coastal waters off Punta Arena, Baja California Sur, July 2019. Length: 30 cm (11.8 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Steve Wozniak, Alamo, California.
The Speckled Scorpionfish, Pontinus sierra, is a member of the Rockfish and Scorpionfish or Scorpaenidae Family, and known in Mexico as lapón manchado. Globally, there are twenty-one species in the genus Pontinus, of which seven are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.
The Speckled Scorpionfish has a spine-laden slender compressed body that tapers posteriorly with a body depth that is 29% to 33% of standard length. They are red but shade to pink ventrally with gray-green blotches on their sides; the underside of their head and the inside of their mouth are white. Their fins are pinkish-red and their caudal and soft dorsal fins are heavily spotted. Their head is very large, deep, and bony with numerous spines. They have small mouths and large disproportionately-sized very closely-spaced eyes. They lack the “pits” before and after the eyes found in most other Scorpionfish. The uppermost spine on their gill cover is the longest. Their anal fin has 3 spines, the second being the longest, and 5 or 6 rays; their dorsal fin has 12 spines and 8 or 9 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 16 to 19 rays. They have 8 to 13 gill rakers and their bodies are covered with rough scales.
The Speckled Scorpionfish is found within rocky and rubble bottoms at depths between 20 m (65 feet) and 350 m (1,150 feet). They reach a maximum of 33 cm (13 inches) in length, as established by a fish that I caught. They are an exceedingly rare species that is seldom seen by humans. The Speckled Scorpionfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction. The best photo on the globe for this species is provided above.
The Speckled Scorpionfish is found in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from the northern third of the Sea of Cortez and from along the west coast of Baja.
The Speckled Scorpionfish is not difficult to identify but can be confused with the Red Scorpionfish, Pontinus furcirhinus (elongated third dorsal spine) and the Rosy Scorpionfish, Pontinus species A (wider body, pink color, dark brown bars on sides).
From a conservation perspective the Speckled Scorpionfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are too rare, too small, and too difficult to handle, to be of interest to most and thus are considered to be a “catch and release”. Caution: As with all Scorpionfish, the Speckled Scorpionfish should be treated as “hazardous” and released as soon as possible, being careful not to allow their poisonous spines to penetrate the skin.