Stoned Fish (Parenthetically Speaking)

Stoned Stone Fish

I feel a FISH post coming on!

For those of you new to CreativitytotheMax FISH is the single most searched for word that leads to this blog.  Go figure.  It all started serendipitously with this post  Butterfly Fish and the Single Scene

In order to amuse myself ( I amuse easily) and see if it drives up more fish hits I started posting interesting (well, to me anyway) things about the fishy underworld.

SOOOOOOOOO on that note here’s a double whammy word search for you:  STONE(D) and FISH.  (Stayed tuned)

“This fish has no scales, appears to be a rough stone with a rounded fish body and huge bug-like eyes. It weighs about 5 pounds and can grow to about a foot long, (The fishy biblical version – A foot for a foot).  It feeds upon other fish gliding above what they think is nothing but a harmless rock. Many a small fish or shrimp has become a meal for a fish so quick it snaps up its prey in less than a 15th of a second (Fast fish Food).
Human victims of the stonefish’s venom can’t do much to save themselves with the possible exception of applying heat. The application of heat to the stonefish’s venom renders the toxin somewhat ineffective. (Always carry a heating pad with you to the beach). But in cases where a simple application of heat won’t save the day, anti-venom is available. (if you can make it to a hospital before you die). Fishermen and others not careful about where they walk will feel the deadly sting of this remarkable animal, and some may not live to tell the (fish) tale.

The stonefish is prey to bottom-feeding scavengers like sharks. (When did you ever think you’d thank a shark?) However, its defense, the row of 13 (hmmmm) spines along its back, is quite effective against any fish that may attempt to put its jaws (what would posses any self-respecting fish to do that? – must be teen-ager fish) around the stonefish. The venom causes severe pain, paralysis and shock, and, once discharged, takes a few weeks to regenerate itself. (Always check first when was the last time the venom was discharged before thinking about stepping on a stone fish) During this time. the stonefish is not necessarily rendered helpless, the spines are still painfully sharp and surgically incisive.

The stonefish is not threatened or endangered in any way. (If I looked like that I’d be left alone too.)

http://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/fish/Scorpaeniformes/Synanceiidae/Leptosynanceia-asteroblepa

This post dedicated to Laurie “FISHler”

(we had a tiny revelry but you’ll have to see for yourself:

Eppiglottis vs Butterfly Fish)

Humf!