A small scorpionfish with a dark spot on the gill cover, sitting still on rock and easy to pass over.
To about 15 cm, and usually much smaller. Mottled red and brown, with a dark spot on the gill cover which is the most reliable mark on it. It sits still on rock, in ledges and crevice mouths, and relies entirely on not being seen; it will not move as a diver approaches and will often not move when touched.
The dorsal spines carry venom. Nothing about the animal is aggressive and every injury from one is the same injury: a hand put on rock without looking, in surge or while steadying for a photograph. The wound is painful out of proportion to its size and warrants medical attention. Because the fish does not move, the only prevention is to look at what you are about to hold.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
