White-Margin Stargazer

Uranoscopus sulphureus

The white-margin stargazer (Uranoscopus sulphureus) is a distinctive ambush predator found throughout the Indo-Pacific. Adults reach 30-45 cm and have a large, blocky head with dorsally positioned eyes that peer upward from their sandy burial position, and a large, upward-opening mouth. They are yellowish-brown to grey with a white margin on the fins that gives them their name. They bury themselves in sandy and silty substrates at depths of 1-30 meters, waiting to ambush passing fish and crustaceans with explosive suction strikes. They possess venomous spines behind the gill covers and electric organs behind the eyes capable of delivering shocks up to 50 volts. A worm-like lure inside the mouth attracts prey. Despite their sedentary nature, spotting a buried stargazer is an exciting discovery for observant divers scanning sandy areas on Indo-Pacific reefs, revealing one of the ocean's most bizarre and well-armed ambush predators.