Cute, huh? Astroscopus y-graecum, the southern stargazer (hence the astroscopus bit), is, in reality, hardly the romantic that its name implies, never mind incapable of actually perceiving any celestial objects; but is just about as nasty as it looks. It not only packs a good jolt of electricity, but is venomous to boot; however, it is extremely clever – here’s the description from the Florida Museum of Natural History:
This fish has many adaptions to life under the sand. Its pectoral fins act as shovels, allowing the fish to bury in a matter of seconds. The body is designed so that the eyes, nostrils, and most of the mouth are above the sand when the fish is under the sand. Scales are absent on head, but are present on body, extending onto fleshy area of caudal fin. The eyes are capable of protruding for a short distance, appearing stalked, so that the stargazer can see above the sand. It brings in water through its nostrils to breathe. Most fish species bring in water through their mouths. The nostrils are protected from sand grains by fleshy, comb-shaped fringes. The mouth also has these fringes around it to keep sand out while the fish is buried. The gill slit is narrow and drawn backwards and upwards into a baggy tube. This tube carries waste water away from the fish and outside the surrounding sand. This fish possesses a special talent: it is able to create electrical currents from a specialized organ located in a pouch behind the eyes. The rate of electric discharge depends upon the temperature, with a maximum of 50 volts. It is used primarily to fend off aggressive, threatening fish rather than for prey capture.
The southern, inhabiting the floors of the Western Atlantic, is but one of fifty species of stargazers that can be found all around the world’s oceans, all belonging to the family Uranoscopidae (implying a seriously long-range scoping ability). For a sense of a stargazer in action – definitely in the category of “nature red in tooth and claw” – see this video; here’s the opening scene, one of deceptive marine tranquillity – but look carefully in the sand….
[Header image from the BBC, Fabio Liverari]
Handsome brute. Thanks for the introduction. The "seriously long-range scoping ability" you note was Sir William Herschel's. Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781, and the Briton who named the Uranoscopidae, broadening Cuvier's Astroscopus, presumably had in mind that extension of the solar system by a British stargazer. The nomenclaturist was Sir John Richardson, himself remarkable:
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4670
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic36-4-376.pdf
Thanks for that introduction as well. Finally, I cannot forego a mention of The Universal Fish Catalogue, because it sounds so much like something from Douglas Adams: http://www.fishwise.co.za/
Posted by: Richard Bready | November 27, 2011 at 09:59 PM