Highfin Scorpionfish, Pontinus rathbuni
Highfin Scorpionfish, Pontinus rathbuni. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Pleasant Beach New Jersey, August 2018. Length: 18.0 cm (7.1 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Identification courtesy of Dr. Stuart Poss, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California.
The Highfin Scorpionfish, Pontinus rathbuni, is a member of the Rockfish and Scorpionfish or Scorpaenidae Family, and known in Mexico as lapón aleta alta. Globally, there are twenty-one species in the genus Pontinus, of which seven are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.
The Highfin Scorpionfish has a large bony head covered with numerous spines. They vary in color with most fish being red overall with dark spots and blotches on their caudal and pectoral fins and dark smudges on their lateral line scales. Juveniles have 4 dark bars. They have a short snout with short cirri over their eyes and a ridge under their eyes. They have 3 or 4 spines. Their uppermost spine is the longest and found on the gill covers. They have a bone above their mouth and before their eyes, which has 2 spines pointing back and down. Their teeth are on the roof of their mouth at the sides. They lack the “pits” before and after the eyes found in most other Scorpionfish. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 5 rays; their dorsal fin has 12 spines and 9 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 16 to 18 rays with the longest being at the center. Their body is covered with rough scales and they have a complete lateral line. Noteworthy are the thick globular balls found on the ends of the fin spines on many fish that should be considered venomous.
The Highfin Scorpionfish is a demersal species that is found within rocky and rubble bottoms at depths between 117 m (385 feet) and 386 m (1,265 feet). They reach a maximum length of 25 cm (10 inches). They feed on mobile benthic invertebrates including crabs and mollusks. The Highfin Scorpionfish is a small deepwater species that has been poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Highfin Scorpionfish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean but has a limited distribution and they are found only along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.
The Highfin Scorpionfish is the only red scorpionfish found along the east coast of the Yucatán, however, it is similar to the Longspine Scorpionfish, Pontinus longispinis (elongated third dorsal spine) and the Spinythroat Scorpionfish, Pontinus nematophthalmus (16 rays on pectoral fins; long cirri) also found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
From a conservation perspective the Highfin Scorpionfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are a deep water and rather inaccessible species. They are fairly common but too small and too difficult to handle to be of interest to most, thus are a “catch and release” when caught. CAUTION! As with all Scorpionfish, the Highfin Scorpionfish should be treated as “hazardous” and released as soon as possible, being careful not to allow their poisonous spines to penetrate the skin.