FOWLER'S SCORPIONFISH
Sebastapistes fowleri (Pietschmann, 1934)
     The world's smallest known scorpionfish, this uncommon species is reddish to orange with very fine white spots. In Hawai`i it is glimpsed most often between the branches of Cauliflower Coral (Pocillopora meandrina). Several individuals often occupy the same coral head. It also occurs in coral rubble down to at least 100 ft. It grows to about 1 ½ in. and ranges from the Western Indian Ocean to Hawai`i. The fish may be tiny, but the man whose name it bears, ichthyologist Henry W. Fowler (1878-1965), described and named 1,408 fish species and published 674 papers and books. He was also an accomplished illustrator of the fishes he collected. Fowler once accompanied Ernest Hemingway on his yacht, later naming a small scorpionfish after the great writer and sportsman. Fowler pursued his career mostly at the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia.