Example 8b
All images copyright protected, © Doug Segar and Elaine Stamman Segar.
The previous photograph actually depicts two scorpionfish and is taken from directly in front of them. This photograph shows this superbly camouflaged species, the Caledonian stinger or Inimicus caledonicus, often called the devil scorpionfish. Like other scorpionfish, its spines are highly venomous and it is a ferocious predator that ambushes its prey by lying in wait, motionless, until the unsuspecting prey approaches.
This photograph shows the outline of the animal very well and shows the fringed appendages on its mouth and dorsal fins that normally conceal this outline very effectively. However, you must understand that we discarded many others in which it was simply much too difficult to see what was in the photograph. It took a fortuitous find of this individual in just the right location and careful attention to the angle at which the photograph was taken and the strobe placement to get this result. Most often this species is found in areas of sand and rubble that are much the same color as its body. I remember that on one occasion I was told of the exact location of one of these animals. Although I swam directly to the location, which was an open area of flat rubble and sand marked by a specific rock, it took me several minutes swimming around this area before I was able to finally see the animal. I had swum directly over it and around it, within a meter or less, several times without being able to distinguish it from its background.
Are you still having difficulty making out the features of this animal in the photograph above?
Click the photo for an even closer look.