Stargazer
Aug 20, 2020 22:09:06 #
I caught this fish a few months ago while surf fishing in Panama City Beach, FL. I had no clue what it was, other than being very ugly - it growled at me when I got it on the beach. After matching it to images on the internet of saltwater fish in Florida, it is a "Stargazer" and described as one of the most vicious and meanest fish of all. It can produce 50 volts of electricity and has venom in its fins - never mind a mouth full of sharp teeth! It buries itself in the sand with only it eyes protruding out to ambush its prey. I've been surf fishing for 50 years and have never seen anything like it. I would hate to step on it! Another good reason, in addition to stepping on a stingray, to slide your feet in the surf!
Aug 20, 2020 22:36:25 #
Aug 20, 2020 23:12:13 #
FishfulThinking
Loc: Venetia, Pa. 25 miles S. Of Pgh.
My, my, that is one ugly critter. I sure hope you did not release it. Show it a mirror and it would probably kill itself!
Aug 21, 2020 00:12:55 #
FishfulThinking wrote:
My, my, that is one ugly critter. I sure hope you did not release it. Show it a mirror and it would probably kill itself!
No, I did not release it. There was no way I was going to get close enough to remove the hook, so I cut the line and brought it up to my condo to get a good look at it so the ID was accurate. Then iced it and put it down the trash chute the next day. Here's a few more pics of it. Note the fish has what looks like lips!!! Seems to me this thing would be in the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, but nope, it was in about 4 feet of water and 40 feet off the beach.
Aug 21, 2020 01:37:30 #
Wikipedia:"the meanest thing in creation". Thought that was the crocogator?
Aug 21, 2020 04:56:02 #
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This guy isn't beholding to any one. UGLY!!!!
Spent 2 years down that way on the white sands in 72 - 73. Now that is what i call Pretty. Beautiful area there in Panama City Fla.
Spent 2 years down that way on the white sands in 72 - 73. Now that is what i call Pretty. Beautiful area there in Panama City Fla.
Aug 21, 2020 05:47:00 #
Dang, that is one ugly, mean looking fish! As if I needed another reason to stay out of the ocean...thanks for sharing!
Aug 21, 2020 07:54:54 #
fishoholic wrote:
No, I did not release it. There was no way I was going to get close enough to remove the hook, so I cut the line and brought it up to my condo to get a good look at it so the ID was accurate. Then iced it and put it down the trash chute the next day. Here's a few more pics of it. Note the fish has what looks like lips!!! Seems to me this thing would be in the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, but nope, it was in about 4 feet of water and 40 feet off the beach.
Man that is one ugly looking critter. The trash is a good place for him, but I hope they picked the trash up that day. Thanks for sharing, fish.
Aug 21, 2020 09:07:18 #
Aug 21, 2020 10:13:51 #
Aug 21, 2020 10:21:10 #
fishoholic wrote:
No, I did not release it. There was no way I was going to get close enough to remove the hook, so I cut the line and brought it up to my condo to get a good look at it so the ID was accurate. Then iced it and put it down the trash chute the next day. Here's a few more pics of it. Note the fish has what looks like lips!!! Seems to me this thing would be in the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, but nope, it was in about 4 feet of water and 40 feet off the beach.
Aug 21, 2020 12:36:38 #
Thanx for the excellent photos, I have never seen one alive and none on the Gulf coast of Texas. I suppose they are here, but just not in numbers. Just Sayin...RJS
Aug 21, 2020 12:41:09 #
Looks like it inspired the monster Kelly LeBrock turned the brother into in Weird Science?
Aug 21, 2020 12:52:48 #
OJdidit wrote:
Looks like it inspired the monster Kelly LeBrock turned the brother into in Weird Science?
Come on troops. It is beautifully designed by God or nature to do exactly what it does - lie on the bottom of the ocean and look up waiting for its next meal to pass by and then chomp into it and eat it. Not a pretty picture and not a pretty fish. But effective. And IMHO it does not deserve to die because it does not meet our anthropomorphic sense of esthetics. Kinda like rattlesnakes. Unless they come in my yard and get on my lawn.
Aug 21, 2020 13:14:47 #
Stargazers are really amazing. You can set them down on damp sand and they sink themselves down in seconds without visibly moving. The tiny spines on the belly vibrate and liquefy the sand beneath them like quicksand and they just sink.
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