THE SHOCKING
STARGAZER
Every now and then, during the cooler months, we will sometimes catch
a very strange looking but interesting fish. It doesn’t happen every year, but
it occurs frequently enough that I’m sure this funny looking fish is probably
a regular resident of our shoreline water during the winter. So this month I
want to tell you a bit about this comical looking fish, the Stargazer.
It is named a Stargazer because its small eyes sit up on top of its large
head, so it appears that the fish is always looking up at the sky. Adding to
its unusual anatomy, its mouth is also turned upward, so when a Stargazer
has its mouth gaped open, it looks like a hole on top of the front end of its
large head. Even the openings for its gills are located near the top of its
body.
The reasons for all these body parts being located on top of its body
are because of where and how it lives. Although Stargazers are not flat
like flounders that often partially bury themselves just under the sand,
Stargazers employ many of the same behaviors as flounders. Even though
a Stargazer’s body is round and bulky, looking generally like a giant
tadpole, they are still able to bury themselves in the sand. It is comical
to watch one in wet sand as it wiggles its body from side to side creating
an ever deepening pit for itself. It actually uses its side fins to move like
shovels to help burrow down deep enough until only its eyes on top of its
head are exposed, barely sticking up above the sand. Buried underneath,
the Stargazer will wait until some unsuspecting prey (small fish or other
small animal) passes too close, and then quickly gulp it down its mouth.
Stargazers are not strong or fast swimmers, so they pretty much have to
rely on a “hide and ambush” strategy for feeding.
But hiding is not their only adaptation for protecting themselves.
12 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | NOV 2019
Located just behind those little eyes on top of its head are a couple of
small specialized organs that are actually electrical plates. Those electrical
plates can produce a powerful and surprising shock. Some studies have
indicated that a Stargazer’s shock can be as much as 50 volts. So I don’t
handle them myself! A former university student of mine told me that he
was once moving a Stargazer in his hands from a bucket to an aquarium at
his school when it shocked him enough to put him on his rear end!
Although they are great at hiding just below the sand, this is the time of
year when we will sometimes come across these funny looking, amusing
fish during our beach ecology trips. I’m hoping we will see a few this winter,
but even when we do, you won’t see me holding one!!
Dr. Joe Richardson (Ph.D. Marine Sciences) is a retired marine science
professor with 40 years of research and teaching experience along GA, the
southeastern coast and Bahamas. Besides research, he conducts Tybee
Beach Ecology Trips (www.TybeeBeachEcology.com) and frequently posts
pictures of their findings on his Tybee Beach Ecology Trips Facebooks page.
Beach Walks
with Dr. Joe
By Dr. Joe Richardson
/(www.TybeeBeachEcology.com)