California scorpionfish
Scorpaena guttata Girard, 1854
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Scorpaena guttata is a species of fish in the scorpionfish family known by the common name California scorpionfish. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, where it can be found along the coast of California and Baja California. Its distribution extends from around Santa Cruz, California, to Punta Abreojos in Baja California Sur, and out to Guadalupe Island. It is also found in the Gulf of California. Another common name is spotted scorpionfish.
Wikipedia contributors, Scorpaena guttata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:59:36.002367+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Scorpaena guttata Girard, 1854
- Name authority
- Girard, 1854
- Common name
- California scorpionfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Scorpaenidae
- Genus
- Scorpaena
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderScorpaenoidei
- familyScorpaenidae Risso, 1827
- subfamilyScorpaeninae Risso, 1827
- genusScorpaena Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesScorpaena guttata Girard, 1854
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Scorpaena. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Scorpaena afuerae Hildebrand, 1946 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| longfin scorpionfishScorpaena agassizii Goode & Bean, 1896 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| coral scorpionfishScorpaena albifimbria Evermann & Marsh, 1900 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scorpaena annobonae Eschmeyer, 1969 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scorpaena ascensionis Eschmeyer, 1971 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| goosehead scorpionfishScorpaena bergii Evermann & Marsh, 1900 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scorpaena canariensis (Sauvage, 1878) | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scorpaena cardinalis Solander & Richardson, 1842 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scorpaena colorata (Gilbert, 1905) | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scorpaena fernandeziana Steindachner, 1875 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scorpaena hatizyoensis Matsubara, 1943 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scorpaena jacksoniensis Steindachner, 1866 | ScorpaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Scorpaena guadalupae Fowler, 1944 Fowler, 1944 | synonym |
| Scorpaena microlepis Gunter, 1948 Gunter, 1948 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Girard, C. F. (1854). Observations upon a collection of fishes made on the Pacific coast of the United States, by Lieut. W. P. Trowbridge, U. S. A., for the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 7: 142–156. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4VWRQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.