Identifying Rhinopias Species

One of my pet peeves is the misidentification of members of the scoprionfish genus Rhinopias. There are 3 members of this genus that are commonly seen by divers in South East Asia - Rhionpias aphanes, R. eschmeyeri and R. frondosa. Actually geography plays a much greater part in the identification of them that people realise.

Rhinopias aphanes / Lacy Scorpionfish - is endemic to the Coral Sea area of Papua New Guinea, Great Barrier Reef, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia. They differ in habitat preference from the other two species as a result of the predominant environ

mental conditions in the Coral Sea. They are found on rich coral bommies and walls sitting out in the
open, mimicking crinoids. The patterning on the body is made up of a network of line rather than spots and colouration is quite variable as with the other species.

Rhinopias eschmeyeri / Paddle Flap Scorpionfish - This is the easiest species to identify. The body is generally only one colour with very few other markings. There are also ha

rdly any filaments on the skin and the dorsal fins are completely lacking in skin filaments or indentat

ions adjacent to the spines, hence the common name. I have seen red, pink and purp

le individuals. The range is throughout much of the tropical Indo West Pacific. It prefers 'muck' dive sites with black sand and algal beds.

Rhinopias frondosa - Weedy Scorpionfish - Basically this is the only species of filame

ntous Rhinopias that is found in Indonesia and Philippines but is often incorrectly identified as the Lacy / R. aphanes species. It shares the same habitat as R. eschmeyeri and the two often co-occur. This species is found in white, yellow, purple, red and all manner of other colours. It has circles rather than lines covering the body. It is also found throughout the Indo West Pacific as far west as Mozambique. It can therefore occur in the Coral Sea but habitat type and body patterning easily distinguish it from R. aphanes.