Behold the Monkeyfish
Posted on Jun 01, 2008 by bruce_moore
As promised, I will begin to add pictures to our blog and I will start with an odd fish that I have mentioned recently: the pacific monkeyfish (Erosa erosa), also known as the pitted stonefish. We have seen three individuals on the Black Sand Dive Retreat House Reef with regularity starting on New Year's Eve and these two pictures are of the largest one, taken a day or so after "shedding" and then over a month later (late March) when algae was obviously growing back, providing an excellent camouflage as the fish really looks like any other small algae-coated sponge in the vicinity. They don't move around much: either they are within a few meters of where they were last viewed or they disappear completely. But they can virtually vanish by partially burying themselves and allowing their natural camouflage to render them unnoticeable. Their oversized head, tapering to a small body by comparison makes them seem just a lump on the bottom. Atop their head is a depression that one could securely sit a marble into; I have no idea why they would have such a hole in their head. Nitrogen narcosis or an active imagination must be to blame for likening their sad visage to that of a monkey, and they aren't mischievous or playful, but they certainly do have a charm of their own and are a memorable critter.
[ << Return to News Page ]