Scorpaena hemilepidota Fowler 1938

Andréfouët, Serge, Chen, Wei-Jen, Kinch, Jeff, Mana, Ralph, Russell, Barry C., Tully, Dean & White, William T., 2019, Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records, Zootaxa 4588 (1), pp. 1-360 : 101

Scorpaena hemilepidota Fowler 1938 —Pale scorpionfish ( Fig. 43 )

Status at New Ireland. New record, based on NTUM 12340 (1 specimen, damaged, 68.2 mm SL, St. CP 4260-20, Gazelle Channel), NTUM 12341 (1 specimen, 67.0 mm SL, St. CP 4457-21, northnortheast of Lemus Island), and NTUM 11246 (1 specimen, St. CP 4458-20, 11.5 km west of Kavieng ).

Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 2.—General distribution: Philippines. 178–350 m depth. Marine.

Remarks. Live colouration rose, marbled with red.

Additional specimens collected northeast of Normanby Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, NTUM 12342 (3 specimens, 30.8–57.1 mm SL, St. DW4313-1-3, 09°49'S 151°34'E, 105–175 m depth, R/V Alis, 3 May. 2014).

Figures

FIGURE 43. Scorpaena hemilepidota Fowler 1938, St. CP4457-21, northnortheast of Lemus Island, Kavieng District, 133– 178 m depth (NTUM 12341) (photograph by Jhen-Nien Chen, taken immediately after collection).