Northern Stargazer
Astroscopus guttatus
Stargazers
stargazers_g356
About
Stargazers are ambush fish that bury themselves in the sand with just their eyes and mouth showing. In this app the group includes the stargazer, the southern stargazer, and the northern stargazer.
How to tell it apart
The mark that settles it is the eyes on top of a flat head with an upward mouth, usually with just this much showing above the sand. Members can be told apart by size and by whether a wriggling lure is visible in the mouth.
Appearance
Stargazers have a large, flat head with eyes on top and a big, upward-facing mouth. Their body tapers back to long dorsal and anal fins, and they range from about 18 cm up to 90 cm long. Some have a worm-shaped lure inside the mouth.
Habitat
Stargazers are found in shallow and deep saltwater around the world, where they lie buried in sand or soft seabed.
Behaviour
Stargazers hide buried in sand and leap upward to ambush prey that swims overhead. Some species can also give an electric shock, and all have venomous spines, so they should never be touched.
Diet
Stargazers eat other bottom-living fish and invertebrates, ambushing them from their buried position.
Did you know?
Some stargazers can deliver an electric shock as well as a venomous sting, yet they have no electric sense of their own to find prey with.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
