SCORPIONFISH

Scorpionfish are such an extended family it may seem inappropriate to lump them all together. Some members appear so distinctly different that if you didn't know more about them you would never realise they were connected. The highly decorative lionfish, the ultra-ugly devilfish and even the well camouflaged leaffish are all members of one of the reefs most visually contrasting groups.

However, what principally links all these guys together is that they employ the same method of defence - a ridge of venomous spines runs along their bodies which, when depressed, can inject varying strengths of venom into an attacker. Some contain a poison that is easily treatable while others are deadly. Generally, lionfish and leaffish stings are less serious than those of scorpionfish. Next up the toxicity ladder are false stonefish, then the devilfish whose venom is almost as potent as the potentially deadly stonefish.

Scorpionfish are often seen lurking on the reef. They mostly choose to sit on a background that blends with their skin tones and rarely move from their perch. False stonefish do much the same thing while 'proper' stonefish are more likely to bury themselves in the sand, leaving just two, lumpy eyes protruding so they can watch out for a passing snack. While lionfish and leaffish are easily recognised, many divers mistake scorpionfish for stonefish so compare the two central images above.

Cockatoo waspfish are elegant fish mostly found on the seabed, yet their behaviour is rather more like that of leaffish.

The devilfish is one of those weird marine curiousities - this is a fish with feet! The devilfish’s first two pectoral rays have evolved into fingers or claws which move independently of the rest of the fin. which allows him to walk across the ground. He looks clumsy and awkward as he drags his body and extremely curved tail behind. The inner surface of his pectoral fins are brightly coloured and he’ll spread them when threatened to advertise their lethal spines.

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