The Oriental armoured gurnard Scalicus orientalis (Fowler 1938) is recorded from La Réunion, southwestern Indian Ocean, based on a specimen collected during a volcanic eruption in April 2007. The specimen was previously misidentified as Satyrichthys investigatoris (non Alcock, 1898), a junior synonym of Scalicus hians (Gilbert & Cramer, 1897); the occurrence of that species cannot be verified and has to be excluded from the fish fauna of La Réunion.