The cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) is a large species of sculpin native to the Pacific coast of North America. Although the genus name translates literally as "scorpion fish", true scorpionfish (such as lionfish) belong to the related family Scorpaenidae. The cabezon is the only known member of its genus.
| Cabezon | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Scorpaeniformes |
| Superfamily: | Cottoidea |
| Family: | Scorpaenichthyidae Jordan & Evermann, 1898[2] |
| Genus: | Scorpaenichthys Girard, 1854[1] |
| Species: | S. marmoratus
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| Binomial name | |
| Scorpaenichthys marmoratus (Ayres, 1854)
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| Synonyms[3] | |
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Taxonomy edit
The cabezon was first formally described as Hemitripterus marmoratus in 1854 by the American physician and ichthyologist William Orville Ayres with its type locality given as California.[4] Both Ayres and the French biologist Charles Frédéric Girard published the specific name marmoratus for this taxon in 1854, Ayres published his name on 8 September in The Pacific, a San Francisco-based journal in which the California Academy of Sciences published its meeting reports and the name was published once more on 22 September in the Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. Girard's name was deemed to have been published on 6 October and authorship was confirmed in favour of Ayres in the ICZN Opinion 1583 in 1990.[5] Girard classified this species in the monospecific genus Scorpaenichthys.[1] the cabezon is classified as belonging to the monotypic family Scorpaenichthyidae in the 5th edition of Fishes of the World.[6] but subsequent authorities have placed the taxon within the Jordaniidae.[1] In either case the cabezon is regarded as one of the more basal members of the superfamily Cottoidea.[7]
Description edit
The cabezon is a scaleless fish with a broad bony support extending from the eye across the cheek just under the skin. It has 11 spines on the dorsal fin. The cabezon also has a stout spine before the eye, an anal fin of soft rays, and a fleshy flap on the middle of the snout. A pair of longer flaps are just behind the eyes. The mouth is broad with many small teeth. The coloring varies, but is generally mottled with browns, greens and reds. >90% of red fish are males, whereas >90% of green fish are females.[citation needed] The flesh is blue in color as are the internal organs.[8][9] It reaches up to 99 cm (3 ft 3 in) in length and 14 kg (31 lb) in weight,[3] while the largest ever Cabezon caught was 25 lb (11 kg) in weight and longest being 39 in (99 cm).[10] As the Spanish-origin name implies, the fish has a very large head relative to its body.
Distribution and habitat edit
Cabezon are found in the northeast Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Baja California.[3]
They are found in a wide range of habitats at depths of 0–200 m (0–656 ft), including rocky, muddy and sandy bottoms, and kelp beds.[3]
Fishing technique edit
Cabezon feed on crustaceans, mollusks, fish and fish eggs. Cabezon are taken as a game fish, but their roe is toxic to humans,[3] because of the occurrence of a toxic phospholipid (Dinogunellin). Cabezon inhabit the tops of rocky ledges as opposed to rockfish and lingcod, which usually inhabit the sheer faces of these features.
References edit
- ^ a b c Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Jordaniidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
- ^ a b c d e Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Scorpaenichthys marmoratus" in FishBase. August 2022 version.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Scorpaenichthys". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ "Opinion 1583 Scorpaenichthys marmoratus (Osteichthyes, Scorpaeniformes): Ayres 1854 to be taken as the author of the specific name". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 47 (1): 79–80. 1990.
- ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 467–495. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
- ^ W. Leo Smith & Morgan S. Busby (2014). "Phylogeny and taxonomy of sculpins, sandfishes, and snailfishes (Perciformes: Cottoidei) with comments on the phylogenetic significance of their early-life-history specializations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 79: 332–352. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.028. PMID 25014569.
- ^ "Cabezon | California Sea Grant". caseagrant.ucsd.edu. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
- ^ Bland, Alastair (17 June 2014). "Red Fish, Blue Fish: Where The Fish Flesh Rainbow Comes From". NPR. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
- ^ "California Marine Sportfish Identification: Other Fishes". California Department of Fish and Wildlife. October 17, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/speciesid/fish_page/fish66a.html
- International Game Fish Association "World Saltwater Records"
- Occurrence of a toxic phospholipid in cabezon roe