Scorpaenidae

The Scorpaenidae are a family of mostly marine fishes that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venomous mucus. They are widespread in tropical and temperate seas, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. They should not be confused with the cabezones, of the genus Scorpaenichthys, which belong to a separate, though related, family, Cottidae.

Scorpaenidae

Nhobgood · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ScorpaenoideiPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Scorpaeniformes
Life habit
nektobenthicPBDB, for Scorpaeniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Scorpaeniformes

Time the record covers

At least 59 million years on record.

The record covers at least 59.24 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 61.66 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 1 of 102 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 6 of 102 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 15 of 102 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 33 of 102 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 9 of 102 occurrencesPleistocene — about 31 of 102 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences61–59 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences55–52 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 1 occurrence34–31 Mya — about 4 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 4 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 4 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 4 occurrences13–10 Mya — about 5 occurrences10–8.4 Mya — about 6 occurrences8.4–6.3 Mya — about 8 occurrences6.3–4.2 Mya — about 8 occurrences4.2–2.1 Mya — about 7 occurrences2.1–0 Mya — about 37 occurrences59.24 Mya11.7 ka63 Mya0 Mya

102 occurrences of Scorpaenidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

102 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

29 formations

Palos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.75°N, 118.29°WMonterey — 34.61°N, 120.44°WMonterey — 33.79°N, 117.81°WBoom Clay — 51.13°N, 4.26°EBoom Clay — 51.09°N, 4.40°EBoom Clay — 51.19°N, 4.32°EModelo — 34.13°N, 118.48°WModelo — 34.14°N, 118.44°WTimms Point Silt — 33.73°N, 118.28°WPort Orford — 42.83°N, 124.56°WPort Orford — 42.82°N, 124.54°WElk River — 42.81°N, 124.81°WSan Pedro — 33.75°N, 118.29°WPort Campbell Limestone — 37.72°S, 141.93°ERaz-el-Ain — 35.71°N, 0.64°WNavidad — 33.94°S, 71.85°WLondon Clay — 50.83°N, 0.78°WTsurushi — 38.01°N, 138.27°EJewett — 35.49°N, 118.85°WAlzey — 49.83°N, 7.72°EBowden — 17.88°N, 76.28°WBassevelde Sand — 51.08°N, 4.35°EWilson Grove — 38.34°N, 122.84°WKishima — 33.38°N, 129.93°ELindos Bay — 36.09°N, 28.01°EBrowns Creek Clay — 38.77°S, 143.40°EPakaurangi — 36.24°S, 174.28°EKoshikawa — 43.94°N, 145.11°ECalcaire Grossier — 49.31°N, 2.25°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Scorpaenidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 5 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 35 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Scorpaenidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Scorpaenidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,180 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 68 sites for Scorpaenidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

52 references

Each of the 102 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 40 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Scorpaenidae

Credit
Nhobgood
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Scorpaenidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itScorpaenoidei through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Risso 1827