SCORPAENIDAE


Taenianotus triacanthus
(photo by Kanit Wangcharroenrung)


Taenianotus triacanthus
Lacepède, 1802
Leaf Scorpionfish

D XII, 10-11; A III, 5-6; P1 14-15; P2 I, 5.

Body nearly oval, extremely compressed. Lacrimal without pointed spines. Dorsal fin without or with only weak notch anterior to last spine. Scales modified to small sharp papillae. Color: body color extremely variable, black, red, yellow, brown, or nearly white, and variously blotched. Size: maximum length 8 cm SL. Distribution: widely distributed in the Indo- Pacific, from east coast of Africa east to the Hawaiian Islands and French Polynesia, and southern Japan south to New South Wales, Australia; one photographic record from the Galapagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Remarks: occurs in shallow rocky and coral reefs to depths of 135 m.