Scorpaena is a widespread genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes.

[2] The genus name is based on the Greek word for a scorpion, skorpaina, an allusion to the venomous spines Linnaeus mentioned in his description of S.

[5] The 65 recognized species in this genus are:[6][7][8] Scorpaena scorpionfishes have a very bony head which is armed with numerous spines.

[6] Scorpaena scorpionfishes are found in the tropical and warm temperate zones of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

[10] Scorpaena scorpionfishes are solitary, ambush predators which use their cryptically patterned, irregularly shaped bodies to camouflage themselves on the substrate.