#spiny devilfish

Part 15 of my documentary, "Mucky Secrets", about the fascinating marine creatures of the Lembeh Strait in Indonesia. One fish that divers should be wary of in the Lembeh Strait is the demon stinger (Inimicus didactylus) as its sting is extremely painful and can be deadly to humans. They have excellent camouflage and often lie partially buried in the muck. These fish are more closely related to the lethal stonefish than to scorpionfishes, and are known by a multitude of other evocative common names including spiny devilfish, bearded ghoul and sea goblin. The lower two rays of the pectoral fins are detached from the fin, and the demon stinger walks on them in a manner similar to some dragonets. Demon stingers have no known predators. Many fellow bottom dwellers are oblivious to their existence. We see a fireworm (Chloeia parva) a type of bristleworm, crawling right over the top of a well-camouflaged demon stinger. Like their scorpionfish relatives, waspfishes (family Tetrarogidae) are also armed with venomous spines in their dorsal fin. We see another type of polychaete worm wriggling past a wispy waspfish (Paracentropogon longispinis). The wispy waspfish's coloration is variable. Bandtail waspfishes (Paracentropogon zonatus) are sometimes found too, and the whiteface waspfish (Richardsonichthys leucogaster) is one of the more common types. With its spines erect, like its namesake's crest, the cockatoo waspfish (Ablabys taenianotus) sways from side to side, mimicking a dead leaf in surge. They are sometimes found in pairs on the open seabed.

This is one of the strangest looking creatures i have encountered underwater. Check out how it swims/crawls.. This animal is aptly called "Spiny Devilfish". Video shot in Anilao at Twin Rocks Marine Sanctuary, 6pm, July 20