Scorpionfish here in Okinawa are very common and can be found on almost every dive or snorkel outing. For the most part a scorpion (ragged or tassled) is easy enough to recognize. I do have a question however on two specific ones I took pictures of that I want ID'ed.
This is the first one that I have posted before which I believe is a Scorpionfish but my son believes is a Stonefish based on a report he wrote and studied for in middle school. He feels it is a stonefish as the mouth has the pronounced downturn as opposed to the more horizontal mouth of a scorpionfish.
The following pictures are from yesterday. I am pretty sure this is a real stonefish.
The second fish was in a hollow in the reef and didnt allow for any special angles or composition photos. This photo is from the side and under the ledge the stonefish was hiding under. The sharply defined mouth angle can be seen clearly in this photo.
I agree with you and think the first photo is a scorpionfish, probably the Devil Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis diabolus), but the second is very hard to tell, it took me 5 minutes just to find the eye!
