First Records of a Scorpionfish, Scorpaenodes albaiensis, from East Asia, with a Synopsis of S. minor (Actinopterygii: Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae)

Abstract

The Indo-Pacific scorpionfish Scorpaenodes albaiensis (Evermann and Seale, 1907), for which the Philippines was previously the northernmost record, is recorded from East Asia (Taiwan and Japan) for the first time on the basis of 16 specimens. Specimens from Taiwan and Japan previously identified as S. minor (Smith, 1958) are shown to include the closely related species S. albaiensis as well. The East Asian specimens of S. albaiensis are described, and comparisons of the two species are made on the basis of Indo-Pacific specimens.