Pterois lunulata Temminck & Schlegel, 1843

Pterois lunulata Temminck & Schlegel, 1843 View in CoL

Remarks: Pterois lunulata , P. russelii and P. volitans differ from other congeners of Pterois by having fewer pectoral-fin rays (<15). Both P. lunulata and P. russelii lack black spots on dorsal rays, anal rays, and the caudal fin. Pterois lunulata can be distinguished from P. russelii by more dorsal-fin rays (10–11 vs. 11– 12 in P. russelii ) and pectoral-fin rays (13–14 vs. 12– 13). According to the overlapping meristic characters, we agreed with Wilcox et al.’s (2018) opinion that P. lunulata might be a junior synonym of P. russelii .