First observation of a Mozambique Scorpionfish at Norfolk Island

I'm starting to suspect that John Sear, @johnsear, has a thing for Mozambique Scorpionfish. :)

In February 2022 he observed a Mozambique Scorpionfish, Parascorpaena mossambica, in Chowder Bay, which was the first record of the species from Sydney Harbour. Read the journal post.

John has done it again, this time with a first record of a Mozambique Scorpionfish at Norfolk Island.

John stated, "My favourite snorkeling spot on Norfolk Island is Slaughter Bay, which is tide dependent. Being late in the day some of the more cryptic fish had started to appear and this scorpionfish was not particularly concerned with my presence letting me get close enough for a clear photo. It's colouration provided optimal camouflage amongst the coral and surrounding algal mats and I suspect it was waiting to ambush one of the smaller fish also emerging from the coral at that time. Not being very good at identifying species within this family I assumed it was the Cook's scorpionfish, with a different colour variation to the one I had photographed a couple of days before on the same reef."

John wasn't the only person who was unsure which species of scorpionfish he had photographed. We consulted scorpionfish expert Dr Hiroyuki Motomura, who kindly identified the fish for us. Thank you Hiro-san!

Dr Malcolm Francis, @francism, informed us that John's observation is the first time the species has been documented from Norfolk Island. View Malcolm's Checklist of Fishes of Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Kermadec Islands.

Thank you as always John for yet another contribution towards documenting our fish fauna. To score a hat-trick you'll need to photograph a Mozambique Scorpionfish at Lord Howe Island or the Kermadec Islands. Good luck!