A GROUP of fish washed up on the shoreline at Walney have been identified as scorpion fish by a marine expert. 

Walney resident Janine Da Silva took photos of the fish on Wednesday morning.

She said 'quite a few' had washed on the shoreline.

Sarah Neill, a marine biologist at Kendal College, said: "It looks like a scorpion fish to me, they are common around the British coastline and they are likely to have been washed up by the recent storm." 

There are two types of scorpion fish. Long-spined sea scorpions are common around the UK coast, whereas short spined sea scorpions are usually found in deeper waters and it is much rarer for the fish to be spotted, making the Walney fish more likely to be the long-spined type. 

According to the Wildlife Trust website, long-spined sea scorpions have a 'large, bulbous head with a distinctive small barbel in each corner of the mouth.' 

It continues: "Colouration is usually mottled with pink, red and sandy blotches. This species can adapt and blend in perfectly with the surrounding algae and encrusting organisms.'