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Cymbacephalus beauforti
The Crocodilefish is a medium sized fish which grows up to 50 cm, but the average size mostly observed is 35 cm. The body is elongated and the head is particular because of its flat appearance like a duck-billed. They have lappets at the rear of their globulous eyes, which help to break up the outline of the black iris and improve their camouflage. Juveniles begin black with few white spots and a white line behind the head. The adults have a body coloration which can vary in intensity according to the surrounding. The body is covered with a pattern like a mosaic of beige to brown spots or even greenish to grey separated by an interlacing of blue lines which ideally camouflaged them with their habitat.
It is widely distributed throughout the tropical waters of the center of the Indo-West Pacific. Crocodilefish dwell in sandy patch and detritic zone where their camouflage is most effective, usually associated with reefs or mangroves in shallow water and protected areas
Spotted on Nov 11, 2012
Submitted on Apr 20, 2014
2 Comments
Thanks, @Maria :)
The first picture is to show the beauty of its eyes, close-up which would otherwise be lost in the big picture :D
This is a fascinating spotting. The first photo is very interesting but the second photo is more illustrative of the common name. Thanks for sharing this!