Dwarf Scorpionfish or Jock Stewart

Taken on the Rainbow Warrior wreck, Bay of Islands, New Zealand (Middle Earth for Lords of the Ring fans).

The dive instructor was telling me it is a Jock Stewart, I feel it looks like more a dwarf scorpionfish albeit different from the tropical one. Anyone got a book on that ?

It's similar to the northern 'Raven', but still a scorpaenidae member. Probably a juvenile too, hence its pristinity. I'd guess one of the smoothskin genus and not the offspring of a migrant Scot.

This species looks very similar to a New South Wales (Australia) scorpaenid, the pygmy scorpion cod (Scorpaenoides scaber - family Scorpaenidae, name from memory). Ours even has the band behind the head area, but does not possess the vibrant colors on the pectoral fins.

We do have a lot of similar looking species in Oz and NZ due to our geographical region. You could e-mail your image to Mark McGrouther at the Australian museum and he may be able to give you the heads up. If not, at least he may refer you to one of his NZ colleagues.

markm@austmus.gov.au

Cheers