SCORPAENIDAE


Caracanthus unipinna, 3.3 cm SL
(photo by Richard Winterbottom)


Caracanthus unipinna
(Gray, 1831)
Gray Coral Croucher

D VII, 12-14; A II, 11-12; P1 14-15; P2 I, 1-3.

Body rounded, compressed. Lacrimal moveable with a large spine and 2 small blunt spines. A narrow extension of second suborbital bone extending backward and downward across cheek and usually firmly bound to preopercle. Preopercle with strong spines. No deep notch between spinous and soft-rayed portions of dorsal fin. Caudal fin rounded, never forked. Pelvic fins very small. Scales absent, except for lateral line, body densely covered with tubercles. Color: uniformly light brown or gray, without distinct spots or blotches. Size: maximum length 5 cm. Distribution: widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, from east coast of Africa east to the Tuamoto Islands, and southern Japan south to northern Australia. Remarks: found among branches of Acropora, Pocillopora, and Stylophora corals, rarely venturing far from the coral head. Previously recognized as Caracanthidae, but recently classified as a member of Scorpaenidae.