STONEFISH

any of certain species of venomous marine fish of the genus Synanceja and the family Synancejidae, found in shallow waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific. Stonefish are sluggish, bottom-dwelling fish that live among rocks or coral and in mud flats and estuaries. Thickset fish with large heads and mouths, small eyes, and bumpy skins covered with wartlike lumps and, sometimes, fleshy flaps, they rest on the bottom, unmoving, blending almost exactly with their surroundings in form and colour. They are dangerous fish. Difficult to see, they can, when stepped on, inject quantities of venom through grooves in their dorsal-fin spines. Wounds produced by these fish are intensely painful and sometimes fatal. A representative species is Synanceja verrucosa, which may grow about 33 cm (13 inches) long. The family Synancejidae includes a few other species of robust, warty fish. They are also venomous, though not as notorious as the stonefish. Certain scorpionfish of the family Scorpaenidae (order Scorpaeniformes) are also referred to as rockfish or stonefish.