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(Click for large pic. Kb)
It occasionally happens that an angler fishing a clean sandy reach of bay or open ocean finds that his line has become unaccountably snagged on what is obviously a clear bottom. The "snag" may be so immovable that he is forced to break his line in efforts to get clear. On such occasions a Stargazer may be to blame.
This fish is a member of a group of heavy bodied bottom dwelling fish with hard. cubical shaped heads bearing the eyes on the upper surface as though, in fact, the fish were stargazing. The mouth is pushed well to the front and is inclined upwards. The body is scaleless; the fish is a poor swimmer, but compensates for this lack in the rapidity with which it can burrow in sand or mud by energetic shovelling with the broad pectoral fins. Thus, with only the eyes and rim of the mouth exposed, it lies in wait for its prey. It often happens that this fish is misidentified as a Stonefish .
The Stargazer is commonly met with in our southern estuaries and coastal waters, and is usually captured by anglers fishing for Bream and Flathead. The body is brownish over which pale yellow spots are scattered in the form of irregular bars. There is a large brownish blotch on the cheek and another across the back in the region of the pectoral fin. The Stargazer should never be despised as a table fish; it yields thick fillets of delicious white meat.
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