The Stargazer- Uraqnoscopidae (One who looks at the stars)

One of the more unusual creatures that we come into contact with on our cruises to Komodo is the Stargazer. Most often found on our dusk and night dives at Gili Banta this weird looking beast burrows into the sand waiting for its next meal to unwittingly swim past.

They are normally coloured a mixture of mottled browns with white spots, beatifully camouflaged into its sandy habitat. A fully grown adult from the Komodo region reaches around 30cm long with a large bulbous and flattened head tapering down to its tail. There a several species with a wide distribution, both in the Atlantic and Pacific.

It takes a keen eye to spot them though, all that can been seen is its snagle toothed mouth and two eyes. They have venomous spines behind the gill covers and are apparently capable of producing electric shocks, the electric organ positioned behind each eye, so watch out! They are normally found it fairly shallow water, around 6 metres but do live deeper.

Once spotted the Stargazer makes a fascinating photo or film subject, they may not be too colourful but their quirky nature and strange demeanour more than make up for that.