Help identifying a fish from Anilao, Philippines

I'd appreciate help identifying a fish I photographed on a recent trip to Anilao. It was rather small, in the neighborhood of 2 inches or so, and was found at a depth of about 30 ft. on a night dive.

Thanks!

Judging from the fins and stripe across the eye, it might be a juvenile lionfish?

Juvenile lion/scorpionfish was also my first thought but certainly nothing I've seen myself or on images. I hope someone knows what it is. Very nice image as well.

Bart

2" long. On my last trip they caught a juvenile lion fish that I remember being smaller than 2" and it looked like an adult lion fish.

I think you're right. I just did a quick google images search and even tiny (like 1 cm) juveniles are clearly much more similar to adults. Must be something else. I've never seen one like this in Anilao myself.

I still think it is most likely a juvenile scorpionfish of some kind. Dorsal and caudal fins and head shape all look scorpion-like. I went through all of them in Reef Fish of the East Indies but most have no information about juveniles. I am puzzled by the first pectoral fin ray that seems to be separated fully from the fin. That would probably still be the case in the adult.

Bart

That spine might be part of the pelvic fin - hard to tell at resolution of this image. A number of scorpaenids have a stout spine at the beginning of the pelvic fin.

You guys were definitely on the right track. After doing some additional research, I was able to figure it out.

It's a Longfin Waspfish (Apistus carinatus). Here's a link to a very similar specimen - http://www.poppe-images.com/?t=17&photoid=947474.

Thanks for your assistance!

Great to see a mystery solved!

Also, that Poppe Images site is a terrific resource for Philippines diving. I had not come across it before so many thanks for that tip.

Congratulations. Hunting for an id and then finding it is very rewarding. Perhaps you can upload your image to fishbase so others will have it a bit easier in the future.

Bart