Bottom dweller

[Mambo Dave]

bjpell and I came across a new one to us off of a Ft. Lauderdale beach dive today.

I found a grey fish hiding under the sand, just like a ray (head exposed, top of his tail-fin exposed), except it was sort of obvious he wasn't a ray based on the eyes, mouth, and lack of sand raised for a ray's body.

He had eyes on the top of his head, and his mouth was on the top of his head with the edges of the mouth almost pointing straight down.

I just had to get a better idea of what I was looking at, so I went over to him. He didn't seem to care that I was three feet away, as he didn't move - so we're talking about a rather impassive fish here. Finally, after gently touching the top of his head with a rounded end of the pastic dive-flag rope-spool, then again on the side, he moved out of his sand burial.

He was about two feet long, with a much larger torso than tail. His torso and head, while very round, had a flatness to it on the bottom. His torso's flat bottom was white. In a few ways he reminded me of a Scorpion fish - mouth on top, sand hider, disproportionately larger torso than tail - but he didn't have spines. He also was a very 'clean' grey-skinned fish when compared to scorpion fish, as he didn't have bumps, protrusions nor coral-area camouflage - just looked like an odd-shaped fish. (we both agreed he reminded us of one of those really deep, deep sea fishes)

His mouth was full of small pin-like teeth.

He actually swam right above me at one point, but at no time was he a 'fast' fish.

His body was about 4.5 inches tall, and the same wide.

He only made it another 20 feet away before he laid on the sand floor again.

Can someone help me out with this fish's ID?

It was a nice beach dive today, with all sorts of new (to us) sights - a turtle swam in between us (two feet from either of us) for over a minute as we swam back to shore, we saw some type of sea snake (maybe? didn't look like an eel, but I'm no expert - I normally play with land and fresh-water snakes), a school of large snook, a school of look-downs and a school of tangs, plus a few other fish that were new to us. I'm guessing the changes we're seeing are due to the water temperature warming up to the mid to high seventies? I haven't shore dove in anything but winter months down here, so I'm new to the area's sights of Spring. As a side-note, two other divers reported seeing the largest puffers they had ever seen (2.5 feet) out in the open doing some type of mating chase or moves (they assumed). We all thought that was interesting as the larger puffers we see (not that large) are normally hiding deep within a coral head during the day - this was all at about 4:30 PM

Thanks!

 

[maractwin]

Maybe a stargazer? http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/StarGazerSouth/StarGazerSouth.htm

-Mark

 

[archman]

(we both agreed he reminded us of one of those really deep, deep sea fishes)

Yeah, that's usually the giveaway for a stargazer. At two feet long, you saw a really big one. Watch out, they can deliver a nasty electric shock!

 

[Mambo Dave]

You guys are great - thanks! Yep, it was definitely a Stargazer, and the most mature version of one at that based on the three drawings at the bottom of maractwin's link. The eyes were completely on the top, and they looked small (unlike the eyes at other stages of the fish's lifespan according to that page), and the mouth was fully ... I think that's called 'upturned'(?).

On an Australian site describing their Eastern stargazer, they describe it as scaleless, and this fits in with the 'clean' look of the body that I saw on the Southern stargazer.

I'm not sure how far its electrical field reaches, archman, but the fish was on top of me at one point (almost like he wanted to use me to land on - I was horizontal, and flipped over to face up only to find him uncomfortably close to my chest). I would say I was within a foot of him twice. Note to self: If it kind of reminds me of a scorpion fish, still stay away from it.

The neat thing is that I think you guys just helped me identify a fish that my dad caught (bait and hook) in a brackish canal south of Ft. Lauderdale a few years ago. The one he caught was about 8 inches long, and had the same body and mouth - I can't remember the eyes being as distinct as the mature fish's, thus I bet the eyes looked more 'regular' like the ones on the drawing of the 23.5mm 'teenage' fish (not notable, so not remembered) (Say, what is a non-juvenile, non-mature fish called? The stargazer seems to have three completely different looks to it depending on its age, so to call the 8-inch fish a juvenile would be a little misleading). The only difference was that I thought the one caught in my backyard had a brown tinge to its skin - but this was two years ago, so I may not be recalling the color correctly.

Thanks twice!

 

[archman]

and the mouth was fully ... I think that's called 'upturned'(?).

The fish geeks call that a "supraterminal mouth".

I'm not sure how far its electrical field reaches, archman, but the fish was on top of me at one point (almost like he wanted to use me to land on

You pretty much need to grab the fish to get zapped. Most beach waders get shocked when they inadvertently step on the things.

The neat thing is that I think you guys just helped me identify a fish that my dad caught (bait and hook) in a brackish canal south of Ft. Lauderdale a few years ago. The one he caught was about 8 inches long, and had the same body and mouth - I can't remember the eyes being as distinct as the mature fish's, thus I bet the eyes looked more 'regular' like the ones on the drawing of the 23.5mm 'teenage' fish (not notable, so not remembered)

Although it's rare to catch these on rod & reel, there's a common fish group referred to as midshipmen that are often confused with juvenile stargazers. I think they look more like toadfish, personally.
http://www.fishbase.com/ComNames/CommonNameSearchList.php

(Say, what is a non-juvenile, non-mature fish called? The stargazer seems to have three completely different looks to it depending on its age, so to call the 8-inch fish a juvenile would be a little misleading).

Often "subadult" is used to denote this intermediate stage. Most people just refer to fishes as either juvenile or adult, and don't fool around with the middle ground. Fish species that change sex or coloration patterns at different life history stages get additional fun titles bestowed on them.

 

[H2Andy]

dis waz a flounder

 

[Mambo Dave]

H2, Thought it was a potato...

Again, thank you archman. You clues helped me narrow it down. Apparently it was a toadfish my father caught. Big-mouthed sucker, and body, again, disproportionate to the tail (more so than the Stargazer).

 

[archman]

Apparently it was a toadfish my father caught. Big-mouthed sucker, and body, again, disproportionate to the tail (more so than the Stargazer).

Oh yeah, both of the common inshore toadfishes (Opsanus beta & O. taurus) are common to brackish waters. Stargazers don't like brackish water. It's also not terribly uncommon for people to catch toadfish on rod & reel. I caught one once out of a North Carolina sound... I thought I'd snagged my hook on a shoe.

 

[sea_dragon]

they are ugly little buggers....

 

[RNshark]

Mambo, what a great fish! Sounds like you are really lucky that you didn't get to close and acutally grab that fish! Nothing like being electrocuted underwater by a Stargazer!! You would have been seeing the stars then!