Stargazer

One of the most fascinating fish in temperate and tropical waters is the stargazer fish. There are approximately twenty-four species (known as the Uranoscopidae family of fish).

The stargazer is a ventral feeder. This means its eyes and mouth are located more toward the top of the body facing upward like a flounder. Its uniqueness is found in its behavior. The stargazer buries itself in sand with only its bulging eyes and mouth showing. Although the fish can be up to one and a half feet long, its appears as a small animal since only part of its face shows through the covering sand. If you fan a hand back and forth to clear away the cover­ing sand, the stargazer will burrow down further to avoid being uncovered.

Stargazers have an electric organ located behind each eye which can generate a shock of over fifty volts! The stargazer can release this charge at will and uses it to stun prey that come too close. It has an impressive array of teeth which it uses to snap onto prey which wander too near the mouth.

Stargazers also protect themselves by means of venomous spines above each pectoral (should­er) fin. The venom is powerful, and, in some species, the venom is powerful enough to be fatal to humans.

Stargazers can be difficult to find. In the Red Sea, they genera­lly are found in the sands at night. It is quite a unique ex­perience to wander over the sand in the dark with just a light-be­am and suddenly come upon this macabre face staring up out of the sand with a toothy grin.