Rama Rao's Scorpionfish

Scorpaenopsis ramaraoi

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–22 m
Water temperature10–30 °C
Best monthsApril and May
How commonRare

About this species

Scorpaenopsis ramaraoi, Rama Rao's scorpionfish, is a species of venomous marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. This species is found in the Indo-West Pacific from Pakistan to New Britain and Papua New Guinea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Scorpaenopsis ramaraoi”, 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: 3 records
February: 6 records
March: 3 records
April: 21 records
May: 18 records
June: 9 records
July: 4 records
August: 2 records
September: 3 records
October: 2 records
November: 3 records
December: 2 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–22 m · Deepest record: 38 m

0–10 m: 50 records
10–20 m: 13 records
20–30 m: 14 records
30–40 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 10–30 °C

10–12 °C: 9 records
12–14 °C: 12 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 13 records
26–28 °C: 4 records
28–30 °C: 50 records

Names and classification

English: Rama Rao's Scorpionfish

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: Inukasago, イヌカサゴ
Simplified Chinese: 拉氏擬鮋, 沙薑虎, 石崇, 石狗公, 石獅子, 石降, 石頭魚, 臭頭格仔, 虎魚, 過溝仔

Similar species

Papuan Scorpionfish
Scorpaenopsis papuensis
Poss' Scorpionfish
Scorpaenopsis possi
Lionfish
Pterois volitans
Spotted coral croucher
Caracanthus maculatus
Pygmy coral croucher
Caracanthus unipinna
Zebra turkeyfish
Dendrochirus zebra

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).
192 open-data records from 1929 to 2019.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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