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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrata > fishes |
| Stargazer Uranoscopus sp. Family Uranoscopidae updated Aug 08
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! Features: 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. The mouth has fringed lips. 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. Species are difficult to differentiate. 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). Status and threats: Our stargazers are not listed as among the threatened animals of Singapore. However, like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. Trampling by careless visitors, and over-collection by hobbyists also have an impact on local populations. |
 Chek Jawa, Apr 03  Chek Jawa, Apr 03  Changi, Jul 11 |
They have venomous spines! Don't touch or kick them!
 Changi, Jul 11 |
 Protrusible mouth! Changi, Jul 11 |
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Stargazers on Singapore shores
 Changi, Apr 05 |
 Changi, Apr 05 
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 Changi, Apr 05 
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 Chek Jawa, Apr 03 |
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| Family
Uranoscopidae recorded for Singapore from Wee Y.C. and Peter K. L. Ng. 1994. A First Look at Biodiversity in 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.
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Links
References
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Periplus Editions. 292 pp.|
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