Bullrout

The bullrout, also called the freshwater stonefish, is a camouflaged ambush hunter that lies still on the bottom of Australian rivers and estuaries, waiting for prey to come close.

Also known as: freshwater stonefish, freshwater bullrout, kroki

It is often mistaken for the true stonefish, which shares its camouflaged, venomous-spined look. The bullrout lives in rivers, estuaries, and brackish water rather than on a coral reef, which is the clearest way to tell them apart.

It has a large, bony head with ridges, a wide mouth, and a lower jaw that juts out past the upper jaw. The head has no scales, but the body is covered in small ones. Its colour ranges from pale yellow to dark brown, broken up by dark reddish-brown, grey, or black blotches that can join to form rough bands.

The bullrout lives in the lower, slow-flowing parts of rivers and streams in eastern Australia, as well as in estuaries. It settles among water plants or woody debris over rock, mud, or gravel, and can move into brackish estuary water during heavy rain.

This fish is mostly still, resting on the bottom or in weeds and ambushing fish and small crustaceans that pass by. During heavy rain it may move downstream toward estuaries, and it breeds in fresh water.

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  Cockatoo Waspfish

  Ablabys taenianotus

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  Estuarine Stonefish

  Synanceia horrida

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  Red Indianfish

  Pataecus fronto

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  Reef stonefish

  Synanceia verrucosa

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  South Australian Cobbler

  Gymnapistes marmoratus

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  Southern Velvetfish

  Aploactisoma milesii