Mr. Stonefish

One of the trickiest fish in the sea is the Stonefish.

(Not to be confused with the Rockfish, which is another fish that is not dangerous at all, or Rockfish the movie staring Vin Deisel, which may be a little dangerous if you like viewing movies involving talent)

<-- Rockfish

Vin Deisel -->

So what about this Stonefish? Why must we be wary of it?

The Stonefish is a carnivorous ray finned fish with venemous spines that lives on reef bottoms, camouflaged as a rock. It is the most venomous known fish in the world.

Not only is this dude completetly camouflaged as a rock, one of the most common things found on the ocean floor...it's the most venemous fish, ever. Oh, so where do you suppose a creature such as this dwells?

Well, its main habitat is on coral reefs, around dull coloured plants, near and about rocks, or can be found dormant in the mud or sand.

Only all the places a rock would dwell as well. Of course.

HOME SWEET STONE:

The stonefish lives primarily above the tropic of Capricorn, and is known to be found in the shallow tropical marine waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, ranging from the Red Sea to the Queensland Great Barrier Reef.

The average length of most stonefish is about 35-50 centimeters. It has a mottled greenish to mostly brown colour which aids in its ability to camouflage itself among the rocks of many of the tropical reefs. It eats mostly small fish, shrimp and other crustaceans.

Oh right! It's carnivorous too.

One of the funnest fact of our little tricky friend is that it is a fish that can survive out of water for up to 20 hours. That's almost a whole day worth of extra danger, should one choose to come to shore and terrorize us on our own turf.

The Stonefish VENOM:

Its dorsal area is lined with spines that release a venemous toxin. It is the most dangerous of known venemous fish and its venom causes severe pain with possible shock, paralysis, and tissue death depending on the depth of the penetration. This level can be fatal to humans if not given medical attention within a couple of hours.

Typically, surviving victims suffer localized nerve damage occasionally leading to atrophy of adjoining muscle tissues.
The pain is said to be so bad that the victims of its sting want the affected limb to be amputated.

(The poisonous sting of Scorpion Fish and Lionfish are said to deliver the same level of pain.)

EVADING:

It has not yet been confirmed if the Sting Ray Shuffle is 100% effective in evading these creatures, but in theory it should work. At the very least you will kick Mr. Stonefish and want to amputate your toe isntead of stepping directly on him and begging the doctor to get rid of your whole, fully engulfed in the worst pain you have ever felt, foot.

I'm just saying, I'm not going to let a poisonous rock make me a cripple.