In the Black or Azov Sea you can meet a very interesting fish that has an unusual and formidable appearance, reminiscent of a real sea monster. A large head covered with outgrowths, huge bulging eyes, a hefty mouth with thick lips and many sharp teeth, rays of the dorsal fin, similar to real spines. This formidable inhabitant of the deep sea is called - sea ruff, or in other words, scorpionfish.
Small but formidable predator
This monster belongs to a large family of scorpion fish - marine ray-finned fish - included in the scorpion-like order and numbering more than 20 genera and 209 species. Representatives of this family live in the waters of tropical and temperate seas, but most prefer the Indo-Pacific region. The genus scorpion itself (sea ruff is a representative of the genus), numbering 62 species, is distributed in the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the seas belonging to their basins.
In our country, you can find two types of scorpionfish - the noticeable scorpionfish and the Black Sea scorpionfish (sea ruff). The Black Sea, by the way, is not the only place where this amazing fish lives. She was seen even in freshwater of the mouth of the Shapsuho River in the Caucasus, not to mention the Sea of Azov.
Scorpion is a relatively small fish, on average its size does not exceed 15-20 cm. Rare specimens reach a length of half a meter. In its way of life, the sea ruff belongs to predators. The basis of its diet is small fish, crustaceans, invertebrates. Since the sea ruff is very difficult to notice even from a close distance, it does not chase its prey, but lies motionless on the bottom and waits for the victim to approach it, after which it makes a short swift throw.
Beware of scorpionfish
The view of the sea ruff is really very menacing. The body of the scorpionfish has an oblong shape, somewhat compressed on the sides, covered with small rough scales, and a fin consisting of a number of sharp spines. The large head, covered with numerous spikes and outgrowths, as well as a large wide-lipped mouth, looks especially impressive. The color of the sea ruff is rather variegated: on a brown background, the shade of which can be very different, many dark spots and stripes are scattered. The same spots and stripes are found on the fins. A feature of the scorpionfish is that it molts periodically (on average, once a month). At the same time, the upper layer of skin is shed by a stocking (like in snakes), under which there is a new one - fresher and brighter.
At the base of the spikes that cover the body of the scorpionfish, there are channels in which there is a deadly poison. But the ruff uses its poisonous spines solely for defense purposes. If a thorn is stuck in the body,poison is injected into the wound, from which the injection site swells and begins to hurt very badly, as from a wasp sting. With numerous injuries, even a fatal outcome is possible (which happens extremely rarely). In this case, it is necessary to do everything possible so that the injection site bleeds as much as possible to prevent further penetration of the poison into the body, treat this place with hot water and go to a medical institution, even if the pain begins to gradually subside. By the way, when cleaning already caught fish, safety measures must also be observed.
Despite its menacing appearance, the sea ruff, whose photo reminds of real monsters, is not just edible - its white and juicy meat is considered a real delicacy. You can cook a lot of delicious dishes from scorpionfish. Fish soup and ruff baked in foil are especially popular. Therefore, they often become a desirable prey for lovers of fishing or spearfishing, because, due to their inactivity, they allow them to swim very close to themselves.
