fishes text index | photo index
Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrata > fishes
Family Uranoscopidae
updated Nov 13

if you learn only 3 things about them ...
They have venomous spines! Don't touch or kick them!
Most of the fish is usually well hidden under the sand.
They lure prey towards them with a filament in their mouths.

Where seen? This bizarre pop-eyed fish is sometimes seen on our Northern shores, usually buried in sand bars and sandy shores near seagrass areas. Sometimes, dead ones are seen washed ashore.

What are stargazers? Stargazers belong to the Family Uranoscopidae. According to FishBase: the family has 8 genera and 50 species found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. One genus, Astroscopus, has electric organs!

It can grow quite large. One stargazer we saw was nearly 30cm long! A stargazer is basically a bulky head with a tiny body. As its name suggests, it has bulbous eyes that stare fixedly skyward. Its scientific name is derived from the Greek 'ourannos' which means 'sky' and 'skopein' which means 'to watch'. It has a huge mouth that also faces upwards, but set in a permanent frown. Although some descriptions say there are two large spines near the pectoral fins that can inject a painful toxin, others say these fishes lack any venom-injecting spines.

What does it eat? The fish lurks at the sea bottom with most of it hidden in the sand, only its eyes peeking out at the surface and the huge mouth just beneath the sand. Here it lies in wait, ready to gulp up unsuspecting fishes, octopus and squids that wander by. It is said that the fishes only emerge from hiding at night. Some species have a worm-like filament on the floor of the mouth. This bait is wriggled when the mouth is opened, to lure unwary victims to their sudden deaths. Prey are sucked whole into the enormous mouth that can extend outwards (protrusible).

Usually half buried in the sand.
Chek Jawa, Apr 03

Changi, Jul 11

Changi, Jul 11

Protrusible mouth!

Family Uranoscopidae recorded for Singapore
in red are those listed among the threatened animals of Singapore from Ng, P. K. L. & Y. C. Wee, 1994. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened Plants and Animals of Singapore.
+from our observation

  Family Uranoscopidae
  +Ichthyscopus lebeck (Longnosed stargazer)

Uranoscopus cognatus
(Two-spined yellow-tail stargazer)
Uranoscopus japonicus



FREE photos of
marine fishes.
Make your own badge here.
links | references | about | email Ria
wildfactsheets website©ria tan 2008