Scorpaenodes barrybrowni is a new pretty little species of scorpionfish from the deepwaters of the Caribbean Sea. Discovered in Dominica by the Curasub, the newly described Scorpaenodes barrybrowni is named in honor of Barry Brown, a member of team Curasub and the primary photographer of many of the new species that the team has discovered over the last several years.
The new deepwater scorpionfish is small and attractive, with a beautiful delicate red base coloration with complimentary yellow ornamentation to the pectoral fins. Scorpaenodes barrybrowni is closely related to two other species of dwarf scorpionfish of Scorpaenodes, also from deepwaters of the Western Atlantic.
Scorpaenodes tredecimspinosus has a more pronounced and deeper red coloration over much of its body, punctuated by few small white patches. Meanwhile Scorpaenodes carribeaus is more of an olive green overall, also with yellow colored pectoral fins but with much more of a spotted pattern over much of its body.
The deep living Scorpaenodes barrybrowni has a definite ‘Plectranthias‘ look to it, but as pretty as this species is, since it was caught at depths of 95 to 160 meters (311 to 525 feet), there’s going to be very few specimens of this species that are ever brought to the surface.
The newest species of reef fish to be officially minted is described by Baldwin, Pitassy & Robertson in the July 2016 volume of ZooKeys.
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