A Fish Only A Parent Could Love

[Nelson]

I've been cycling a 36 gal brackish tank for five weeks in preparation for this Stone Fish (aka Scorpion Fish).  A very reclusive guy (gal?) so I took a couple of shots while it was still bagged.

[blueturq]

LOL wow, that is one unique looking uhhh.... fish?..... creature? :lol:

It looks cool, neat pickup!

[garnpet]

Am I mistaken, but isn't that fish deadly?

[Mettle]

That is fantastic! Where did you find that? I'd love to get one of these some day. They're such outstanding creatures and so interesting. I thought they were marine and not brackish, though? (Admittedly, I've done very little research, lol.)

What's the nomenclature for that fella?

[mseguin]

They're poisonous, although as far as I know most fatalities are due to paralysis cause to divers (leading to drowning) not the venom itself directly. The one you have there looks to be Synanceia horrida,  known as the Estuarine stonefish and most likely lives in both. If I were u Nelson, I would check out whether the adults need to be moved to full salt-water, if yuo havent already done so. Great fish by the way.

[Nelson]

The research I've done tells me that it's a brackish water fish, but all brackish fish are in salt water at some point in their lives.  I'll have to determine if mature specimens migrate to salt water to live out their adult life.  If that's the case the transition to salt water isn't too complicated.  There's still much information to uncover.  Yes, it's quite venomous so I'll have to keep that in mind.

[NjOyRiD]

woo, that is awsomee!!!