''Pteroidichthys amboinensis'', the Ambon scorpionfish or Godfrey's scorpionfish, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Scorpaenidae The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family (biology), family of mostly ocean, marine fish 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 ...

, the scorpionfishes. It is found in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

oceans.

Taxonomy

''Pteroidichthys amboinensis'' was first formally described in 1856 by the Dutch

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

and

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, Ichthyology, ichthyologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on ...

with the type localities give as

Ambon Island Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south, and three districts (''k ...

in the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

and Manodo on

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

. When Bleeker described this species he classified it in a new genus, ''

Pteroidichthys ''Pteroidichthys'' is a genus of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. The scorpionfishes in this genus are distributed in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Taxonomy ''Pte ...

'', as the only species in the new genus making it the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of that genus by

monotypy In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

. In 1954 the Australian ichthyologist

Gilbert Percy Whitley Gilbert Percy Whitley (9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) was a British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was curator of fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years. Early life and education Gilbert Percy Whitley ...

described a new species as ''Rhinopias godfreyi'' from Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia but this taxon is now considered to be a junior synonym of ''P. amboinensis'', however, this species is still called Godfrey's scorpionfish in Australia. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

refers to the type locality of Ambon Island.

Description

''Pteroidichthys amboinensis'' has the elongate, compressed body typical of the genus ''Pteroidichthys''. This species has 12 flexible spines and 9 soft rays in its

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

and 2 spines and 6 soft rays in its

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

. It has a relatively short snout which is on average around 14% of its

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

. The rear margin of the maxilla extends past a vertical line through the centre of the pupil. There are supraorbital tentacles and the posterior lacrimal spines are well developed, being longer than the diameter of the orbit. There are many tentacles on the body and the fins. The lateral lacrimal and suborbital spines are indistinct, normally being very small spines and frequently being blunt, bony protuberances. There is no clear black blotch on the soft rayed part of the dorsal fin. These fish sometimes have a mottled blackish and reddish colour, but they can make wide changes to their colour and pattern. , This species attains a maximum known total length of . Ambon scorpionfish JRM

Distribution and habitat

''Pteroidichthys amboinensis'' is found in the Red Sea, through the Indian Oceamnand into the western Pacific Ocean as far east as Fiji, north to southern Japan and south to Australia. This is a demersal fish which is found at depths between , over soft substrates and among algae.

Biology

''Pteroidichthys amboinensis'' is a solitary

ambush predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture their prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey u ...

which is camouflaged to blend in to its habitat,feeding on crustaceans and small fish. This fish has

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

bearing spines and the venom is highly toxic and, in some circumstances, invenomation can be fatal to humans.

Utilisation

''Pteroidichthys amboinensis'' is a popular species in the

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

trade but it is rare and as a result commands high prices.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q458204 amboinensis Venomous fish Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker Fish described in 1856