Orange County Register

The most astonishing thing about the rainbow scorpionfish’s appearance is its color; the mix of reds, yellows, even blues justifies its name.

Maybe more astonishing is that the loud color patchwork likely evolved to help the animals hide.

In a drab tank, the 5-inch-long fish stand out. But in the ocean – say offshore at 60 to more than 80 feet deep – the riot of shades breaks up the shape of the scorpionfish. And when it awaits its prey, lurking among colorful seaweeds, it can be virtually invisible.

A quick dart out from its hiding place, and a smaller fish is dinner before it even knows what’s happened.

The second part of this creature’s common name also hints at a truth curious divers ignore at their peril. The fish’s dorsal spines are loaded with toxin. They’ve resulted in no known deaths, but the pain can be searing, accompanied by swelling and discoloration.

Here, however, the hapless diver is in luck. The poison is a long strand of protein, sensitive to heat; immersing the impaled foot or hand in warm water makes the protein fall apart, and the pain vanishes.

These fish can be found off the Orange County coast, but we are at the extreme northern end of their range. They are more often found in tropical waters as far south as the coast of Peru, though even in the heart of their range are not extremely abundant.

Scientific name: Scorpaenodes xyris
Sources: Director Mike Schaadt and lead aquarist Jeff Landesman, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
Photo: Courtesy Julianne Steers, Ocean Institute, Dana Point.
Next week: Asian citrus psyllid

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