No photo available
Reef stonefish
Synanceia verrucosa
Valid name.
- English
- Reef stonefish
- Scientific
- Synanceia verrucosa
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- About 40 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Shallow reef flats, rubble and lagoons, 0 to about 30 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2017
Description
A squat, warty fish so well camouflaged that it looks like a rock or a lump of coral rubble, often covered in algae. Thirteen dorsal spines carry a potent venom that is injected under pressure. It is an ambush predator, lying still for hours and swallowing passing fish and shrimps in a fraction of a second. It can survive out of water for a short time on a falling tide.
In the Maldives
Present in the Maldives in shallow lagoons and reef flats. The most venomous fish known: stepping on one can be life-threatening, so reef shoes are advised when wading.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Synanceia-verrucosa.html
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Synanceia_verrucosa_Prague_2011_2.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No Maldives-sourced Dhivehi name found. FishBase gives 'Gauviha-mas' for India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep dialect), not used here.