Rockfish is the ugliest and most poisonous creature lurking at the bottom of the oceans. For a very extravagant appearance, it is often called a wart. This small fish rarely exceeds 20 cm in length. Its entire body is covered with growths in the form of bumps and warts. On the head dotted with outgrowths is a huge mouth and small eyes. The body without scales has a brown-brown color with light spots and stripes. During the year, the wart changes its skin several times. Its dorsal fin has twelve very hard poisonous spines. Since the stone fish spends most of its life at the bottom, slowly crawling along it, its pectoral fins have acquired a wide base. Poison ducts and
are found not only in dorsal spikes. They also focus on the anal and pectoralfins.
Warts are most often found along the coasts of the tropical seas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They lead a quiet and very sedentary lifestyle. They live in shallow waters in coral reefs, hiding between small rocks overgrown with mud. They also love lava piles. Being a successful predator is very important for this fish. A rockor sand is the best hiding place for her. She is able to lie in ambush for hours and wait for gaping scattered prey. Burrowing into the ground, the wart often leaves the back outside. If you look at it from above, then it will resemble a cobblestone overgrown with algae. That is why she is often compared to a stone.
Despite their lazy lifestyle, the rockfish is extremely irritable. At the slightest hint of threat, she immediately raises prickly spikes on her dorsal fin
. After all, it is at their base that there is poison. These needles are so strong that even shoes cannot protect against them. If a fish is stepped on or touchedit instantly plunges them into human flesh. For humans, the poison of the wart is very dangerous. Most often, unexpected encounters with this fish end fatally. But even if a person is lucky - he survives, he will almost certainly remain disabled for life. The venom of stone-fish - tetrodotoxin - is the most dangerous among all known toxins, which are endowed with the inhabitants of the deep sea. After entering the blood vessels of the body, it destroys red blood cells and affects the central nervous system. Oftentimes
rtva doesn't even have time to realize what happened. The pain shock is so strong that the person simply loses consciousness. If highly qualified medical assistance is not provided to him in time, then death may occur in five hours.
Among different peoples, stone fish has many names. The wart genus includes seven species, all of which are found inRed Sea. The most common species is considered to be Synanceia verrucosa. This is the largest representative of warts. In length, it can reach 40 cm, and weighs about 2.5 kg. Its diet consists of small fish and crustaceans, which it swallows with its huge mouth along with water. Smaller species can be found in the popular fish markets of the Pacific countries. There they are a very refined and delicious delicacy.
