Guam scorpionfish

Scorpaenodes guamensis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–20 m
Water temperature12–30 °C
Best monthsMay
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Scorpaenodes guamensis, the Guam scorpionfish or common scorpionfish, is a species of venomous, marine, ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. It has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Scorpaenodes guamensis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 28 records
February: 24 records
March: 31 records
April: 53 records
May: 115 records
June: 43 records
July: 57 records
August: 54 records
September: 47 records
October: 45 records
November: 58 records
December: 17 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–20 m · Deepest record: 455 m

0–10 m: 220 records
10–20 m: 30 records
20–30 m: 22 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 6 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 12–30 °C

10–12 °C: 2 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 29 records
24–26 °C: 84 records
26–28 °C: 101 records
28–30 °C: 180 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Guam scorpionfish, Common Scorpionfish, Guam scorpion cod, Guam Scorpionfish, Guam stingfish

Names in 3 more languages

French: Poisson-scorpion de Guam
Japanese: Guamukasago, グアムカサゴ
Simplified Chinese: 石狗公, 石頭魚, 虎魚, 關島小鮋

Other scientific names: Centropogon echinatus, Scorpaena chilioprista, Scorpaena erinacea, Scorpaena guamensis, Scorpaena polylepis, Scorpaena rubropunctata, Scorpaenodes guamnsis, Scorpaenopsis quiescens, Sebastes minutus

Similar species

Longfingered Scorpionfish
Scorpaenodes albaiensis
Lionfish
Pterois volitans
Spotted coral croucher
Caracanthus maculatus
Pygmy coral croucher
Caracanthus unipinna
Zebra turkeyfish
Dendrochirus zebra
Bleeker's Lionfish
Ebosia bleekeri

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,211 open-data records from 1824 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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