Bearded Scorpionfish

Thanks for the link. Mouthwatering collection! :-)

Beautiful picture, but I agree this is a bearded scorpionfish :) Stonefish are way more ugly, haha, their mouths almost sit on the top of their heads! Both are dangerous though, a friend of mine got stung by a stonefish and was very lucky to live! These are a wonderful set of photos, you can really see all the tiny details on this guy's camouflage job :) Awesome!

thanks eric....you should try starting your own collections.... :-)

I have more pics here at my flickr if u wanna have a look

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvfYWNs

Thanks ARtPeN. Same here. Love your nudi pics. Wish I would be able to have a collection of my own someday :-)

dont be sorry eric....this is what this project is all about...to identify species and I welcome any suggestions on my spotting as I am not an expert...i am just a diver that loves to take pictures...

Sorry to have raised the question :-( Still a great photo and spotting :-)

so cool!

I probably agree with you OleJohanBrett....thanks

Sorry but this is just an ordinary scorpionfish not a stonefish. Scorpaenopsis barbata is the species name.

stunning catch... what a beauty!!!! ..

A big WOW! Awesome photos!

I am myself confused on these two. But based on limited knowledge this might be a scorpionfish. Difference is in the mouth. Scorpionfishes have more horizontal mouths. Whereas the stonefish have more vertical inverted U-shaped mouths. I maybe wrong though and hope an expert will help us out :-)

see http://www.panagadivers.com/Diving/Nasti...

Whoa, awesome!! Congrats, this is a very cool spotting with beautiful pics to share with us all!

Eric.. I think its a Stonefish..!!
http://www.scubadivemaldives.com/2009/07...

I am not an expert but based on my observations....its a stonefish.... i might be wrong.....any expert on this subject can help out?

Is this a stonefish or a scorpionfish? There seem to be much confusion on the two.

Great work..!!

I have much respect for this fish...they are deadly only when provoked or touched...

thanks for the compliments

That's scary Peter, it looks so pretty to be that deadly!

Spotting of the Day!

"Stone Fish are known for having the deadliest of all fish venom and get their name from camouflaging as rocks."

http://facebook.com/projectnoah/posts/27...
http://twitter.com/#!/projectnoah/status...

Yikes! Great photo.

I just posted a similar fish seconds after you!! They may be the same species but mine is very hidden with its surroundings so its hard to tell. You took beautiful pictures!! :)

Absolutely incredible photo! You have an amazing set of photos. Thanks for sharing!