Blackfoot firefish

Parapterois heterura

''Parapterois heterura'', the blackfoot firefish, is a species of scorpionfish widely distributed on the southeastern coast of Africa as well as off Japan and in Indonesia where it is usually found in sheltered coastal bays with a soft bottom, such as fine sand or mud. It is found in depths ranging from 40 to 300 metres . This species is a sedentary fish and may even bury itself within the substrate. ''P. heterura'' flashes its brightly colored pectoral fins to startle predators and escape, but it may also use these fins to corner prey. This behavior has been demonstrated in other lionfish. This species can be found in the aquarium trade.
Striking Pectoral Fins From the top view, the Gurnard Lionfish - Parapterois heterura shows very striking and beautiful pectoral fins, probably to warn their predators of their venomous spines. Anilao,Batangas,Blackfoot firefish,Geotagged,Gurnard Lionfish,Lionfish,Parapterois heterura,Philippines,Spring

Appearance

''Parapterois heterura'' grows to a maximum length of 38 cm TL, however, most specimens are much smaller than this and adults are often about 11 cm in length. The dorsal fin of this fish has thirteen spines with long filaments on their tips, and nine soft rays. The anal fins have two spines and seven to eight soft rays. The outer rays of the caudal fin also have filamentous extensions.

''Parapterois heterura'' is very similar in appearance to the closely related 'Parapterois macrura''. The two species differ in that ''P. heterura'' has scales in a pit between the posterior nostrils while ''P. macrura'' does not . These species do not differ much in fin spine, fin ray, gill raker counts, and most body proportions. Their differences lie in a small difference in head proportions. Also, in adults, the upper margin of the eye of ''P. heterura'' is below the base of the first dorsal fin spine, while it is above in ''P. macrura'' .
Gurnard Lionfish - Parapterois heterura This Parapterois heterura has several common names - Gurnard Lionfish, Blackfin Lionfish and even Blackfoot (fish don't have feets!) Lionfish or Firefish (strange name). Sometimes, the common names are 'loosely' translated from non-English speaking countries resulting in weird names. Anilao,Batangas,Fish,Geotagged,Gurnard Lionfish,Lionfish,Parapterois heterura,Philippines,Spring

Distribution

This fish seems to have two separate ranges. One is on the coast of Natal in southeastern Africa and the other is in the central Indo-Pacific covering Japan, Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia.

Behavior

''Parapterois heterura'' is largely nocturnal and may partially bury itself in the substrate during the day making it difficult to spot. The brightly colored pectoral fins are flared if the fish is disturbed and may startle predators but their main purpose seems to be to help corner prey when hunting. This fish feeds on small fish and bottom-dwelling invertebrates.

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Status: Not evaluated
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderPerciformes
FamilyScorpaenidae
GenusParapterois
SpeciesP. heterura
Photographed in
Philippines