About Rhinopias eschmeyeri Condé, 1977
Eschmeyer's scorpionfish (Rhinopias eschmeyeri) reaches a maximum total length of 23 centimeters (9 inches). Its dorsal fin contains twelve spines and eight to nine soft rays, while its anal fin has three spines and five soft rays. Per Motomura and Johnson (page 502), R. eschmeyeri can be distinguished from the related species R. aphanes and R. frondosa by several consistent traits. R. eschmeyeri has two tentacles on the underside of its lower jaw, compared to 12 to 18 tentacles in R. aphanes and 9 to 24 tentacles in R. frondosa. It lacks tentacles on the frontal bone below the eyes when viewed from the anterior angle, while both comparison species have 2 to 4 tentacles in this location. R. eschmeyeri also lacks distinct tentacles on the lateral body surface above the lateral line, which are present in R. aphanes and R. frondosa. The tentacles on R. eschmeyeri's supraocular and posterior lacrimal spines are short, with no distinct branches along their distal margins, while the same tentacles are long and distinctly branched in the two comparison species. Finally, the head, body, fins, and tentacles of R. eschmeyeri usually have no distinct pigmentation or markings, which differs from R. aphanes that has elongated white markings with black margins and a central yellow, green, or brown region, and from R. frondosa that has numerous distinct circular spots with dark margins. These differences in lower jaw underside tentacle count, presence of tentacles below the eyes anteriorly, branching of tentacles above the eye, and pigmentation markings can be observed in the two comparison photos to the right. R. eschmeyeri was originally considered endemic to Mauritius, but populations have since been found across the tropical western Indo-Pacific. Its known range extends from the coasts of East Africa to Japan, Indonesia, and the northern half of Australia. This species occurs at depths between 18 and 55 meters (59 to 180 feet), and is most often found on coral reefs or rubble seabeds.
