Deepwater scorpionfish

Setarches guentheri

FAMILY

Setarchidae

TAXONOMY

Setarches guentheri Johnson, 1862, Madeira.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Channeled rockfish; French: Rascasse serran; Spanish: Rascacio serrano; Japanese: Shirokasago.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Grows to 9.4 in (24 cm) maximum length. Typically gray or a shade of orange or pink. As is seen with many deepwater fishes, the skeleton is poorly ossified, and the head is cavernous.

DISTRIBUTION

Described as the most widely distributed scorpaenoid, because it has been collected worldwide in all tropical and temperate deep waters.

HABITAT

A benthic species that lives on or near the bottom at depths between 591–2,297 ft (180–700 m).

BEHAVIOR

Nothing is known about the behavior of this species.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Preliminary investigations into the diet of this species suggest that it eats deepwater crustaceans, including oplophorids and amphipods.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Nothing is known.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not listed by the IUCN.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

No commercial fishery exists for this deepwater species, although it can be found occasionally in eastern Atlantic fish markets.