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Uranoscopus sulphureus
Also known as Tube-nosed Stargazer and Marbled Stargazer. They feed on fish, octopus and squid, and grow to a length of 35cm. Stargazers are called such because their eyes, positioned on top of their heads, appear to be constantly gazing heavenward. The genus "Uranoscopus" is made up of two Greek words that mean 'sky' and 'watch'.
Found singly in silty or sandy lagoons and coastal waters, buried in the sand with just the mouth and eyes showing. Widespread in the Indo-Pacific region, at depths of 5 to 150m.
Spotted this stargazer at a depth of less than 5m during a day dive off the eastern coast of Samal Island, Philippines.
Spotted on Jun 16, 2012
Submitted on Jun 18, 2012
6 Comments
Congrats! This spotting has been featured as a PN Fact of the Day:
https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/pho...
Project Noah Fact of the Day: With eyes that can protrude on the top of their head and a vertically opening mouth, stargazers are adapted to a life on the bottom of the sea. Often burying themselves in the sand, they are lie in wait predators that are capable of delivering a mild shock when threatened by predators. These fish are usually associated with a reef and are widespread in the Indopacific: Red Sea, Indonesia, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.
Whitemargin Stargazer (Uranoscopus sulphureus) spotted in Davao Del Norte, Philippines by PN user Blogie:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/117...
Muchas gracias, Gerardo. :")
Wow what a guy, great series and video as always :):)
Updated this spotting with the correct ID.
Yeah, it was quite fast! It was my first time to see a stargazer completely out of the sand.
I'm thinking this might be Uranoscopus scaber based on the markings and the fins. However, based on EOL's data, U. scaber is said to be found only in Atlantic waters...
I like the markings on this one! Good camouflage. Fast too!