Author: Rafinesque, 1810
Scorpaena notata Rafinesque, 1810
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Scorpaena notata Rafinesque, 1810 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: head large, snout slightly smaller than orbit diameter; preorbital bone with 3 spines over maxilla; sub-orbital ridge with 3 spinous points; upper post-temporal spine present; preopercular spines well developed; other spines as for the genus. Occipital pit present. Pores at symphysis of lower jaw separate but close together, about 1 pore diameter or less between them. Supra-ocular tentacle short, less than half orbit diameter; small skin flaps associated with preorbital, parietal, ocular, pre-ocular and preopercular spines, on eye, below sub-orbital ridge, on snout and on some lateral line scales. Dorsal fin with 12 spines and 9 rays; pectoral fin with 17-19 rays and reaching to about over first anal fin. Scales on body ctenoid; 43-46 vertical rows of scales; chest, pectoral fin base and head naked. Vertebrae 24. Gillrakers 15-18, 4-6 on upper arch, 8-9 on ceratobranchial and 2-3 on hypobranchial. Colour: general pattern red-brown; a large black spot between spines 6-8 and 10-11; other fins mottled or spotted with dark pigment. Size: to 20 cm, usually to 15 cm.
Habitat: common in rocky littoral habitats, sometimes found deeper,between 30 and 700 m. Food: crustaceans and small fishes. Reproduction: few data, spawning probably occurs in May.
Distribution: in the eastern Atlantic from Bay of Biscay to Senegal, Madeira, the Azores and the Canaries; Mediterranean, rare in northern Adriatic but present in the Black Sea (Scorpaena notata afimbria).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Sparta, 1956: 615, fig. 495-499, pl. 38 (fig. 21-24) (under the name Scorpaena ustulata).
Otoliths (sagitta). Jaquet, 1907: 40, fig. 32E-F | Sanz Echeverría, 1926: 156, pl. 53 | Chaine and Duvergier, 1934: 189, pl. 7 | Bauzá-Rullán, 1962: 14, pl. 5 (fig. 51-54).