Ever Wonder What an Angry Sea Goblin Looks Like?

[saxman]

Our Inimicus stingfish decided to toss me a bit of attitude when I hunkered down to peek into the 210. First, it tipped forward and showed me the business end of its dorsal spines, then curled its tail in typical stingfish fashion, turned around, and flashed its pectorals at me:

The really odd thing is that the fish is pretty darned tame, and is generally never bothered by anything that goes on around it. I guess it must've crawled out on wrong side of the substrate...

This does show off its "flash colors" quite well, which are a key to ID-ing the members of the Inimicus genus.

 

[dmanatee]

That is amazing!

 

[saxman]

What the fish actually looks like normally:


Waiting for a meal to swim by:

 

[meowzer]

WOW.....it's beautiful

 

[flower]

Beautiful really?...LOL, I think it was properly named, so butt ugly that it's awesome. The colors although only seen when it's in a nasty mood, is really amazing for such an ugly fellow.. You and Cranberry always liked the unusual.

 

[saxman]

Flower,
Here are some pix of one of the red color morphs we kept:
PO'd:

Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close up:

Dood...back off my mate! (we had a M-F pair):

 

[flower]

Wow, the color is astounding...it kind of reminds me of a butterfly, but man o man...what a face

Hey, in that last picture...are those little leg creepers? Does it crawl on the sand or is it just an illusion that it can?

 

[novahobbies]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/395815/ever-wonder-what-an-angry-sea-goblin-looks-like#post_3525018
Wow, the color is astounding...it kind of reminds me of a butterfly, but man o man...what a face

Hey, in that last picture...are those little leg creepers? Does it crawl on the sand or is it just an illusion that it can?
If memory serves, those "legs" are modified rays from its pectoral fins that it uses to sift the sand for crustaceans, etc. But I'm sure Sax will chime in if I'm wrong....

 

[saxman]

You're absolutely correct...these modified pectoral rays are called dactyls, which I believe is derived from daktylos, which means "finger" in Greek. They not only use them for locomotion, but for launching themselves out of the substrate to grab a passing snack, or scaring up a snack. I'm not sure about the Inimicus species, but it's thought that in Chorydactylus sp. stingfish, they may have chemoreceptors on their dactyls that aid them in finding tasty critters buried in the substrate.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by saxman http:///t/395815/ever-wonder-what-an-angry-sea-goblin-looks-like#post_3525170
You're absolutely correct...these modified pectoral rays are called dactyls, which I believe is derived from daktylos, which means "finger" in Greek. They not only use them for locomotion, but for launching themselves out of the substrate to grab a passing snack, or scaring up a snack. I'm not sure about the Inimicus species, but it's thought that in Chorydactylus sp. stingfish, they may have chemoreceptors on their dactyls that aid them in finding tasty critters buried in the substrate.
Well it may have one ugly face, but it's the coolest fish I ever seen. LOL...but I think I will stay with my seahorses.

 

[novahobbies]

Quote:
Originally Posted by saxman http:///t/395815/ever-wonder-what-an-angry-sea-goblin-looks-like#post_3525170
I'm not sure about the Inimicus species, but it's thought that in Chorydactylus sp. stingfish, they may have chemoreceptors on their dactyls that aid them in finding tasty critters buried in the substrate.
Now THAT is cool, and not something I'd ever heard of before. Love this hobby....so much to learn. Thanks for sharing. Are you and Renee going to be manning a booth down here for MACNA?

 

[saxman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///t/395815/ever-wonder-what-an-angry-sea-goblin-looks-like#post_3525305
Are you and Renee going to be manning a booth down here for MACNA?
That was our plan, but unfortunately, Renee's back has acted back up and she has been advised not to fly anytime soon, so we had to cancel out of MACNA (ouch!). She's back off the schedule at work, which she isn't happy about, but this is a workman's comp thing, so she's kinda at their "mercy", so to speak. She's trying to avoid a second surgery at this point...
And you're welcome...I often say the same thing...still learning about our great hobby!