Scorpion fish, the invisible danger!

During a dive at the house reef in Aquaba I see a blue fish. The color is so striking; I know at once it is a false stonefish (Scorpaenopsis diabolus).
I always find it strange, the tropical fish have these notable colors, there is nobody to see it. This colorful Scorpio stays motionless, he knows he is poisonous, that gives him confidence. I am fully aware of that, but I am not scarred either. I want to get closer and closer, I need to take a picture of his eye.

Another species of Scorpio is the leaf fish (Taenianotus triacanthus), he does not have the scary look, and he is not looking very dangerous at all. He is very thin, like a leaf. I know them in an off white or yellow color, he moves with the motion of the sea to the left or the right, like a leaf. But in Bali, during a night dive I spot a pink one! My heart skips a beat; I always wanted to take a picture of a pink one. But as soon as I get close, he swims away, out of my sight! We try again the next evening, the guide is fully instructed, find the pink scorpion leaf fish! Luckily he finds it sitting on top of a rock, in plain view! Yet it is not easy to take a picture, there are big waves and even at a depth of 19 meters we are tossed about. I can not sit still to focus the camera. I try to swim to stay in one place, but it only gets me an angry buddy, who tries to take a picture of something else... So I wait for the waves to settle down and take some pictures quickly. Then my buddy comes, like to say what is taking you so long? So I move away for him, but he is the unlucky one and my pink treasure leaves again... Who said it was easy? The next encounter with a leaf fish is in a quiet harbor near Wakatobi, there are no waves and no current. Again during night dive the guide shows me one and then I see another one, just make me crazy. In the light of my diving torch they move so they are facing each other. I call this picture: Lets Kiss?

Another bizarre Scorpio I see at Lembeh Street, it looks like a little piece of weed on the sand. The Ambon Scorpio (Pteroidichthys amboinensis) looks like a bit of garbage, but in fact it is a beautiful little Scorpio. Of course you have to learn to love it! The first pictures are awful; the fish looks like lost piece of rope. I can not see the eye, which is an important feature. Then I realize I have to take it from the front, it looks much better from the front and it makes the protruding pieces look like an eyebrow above the eye. Now that is not so easy, the fish keeps turning and turning and does not want to face the camera. I am turning around it, trying not to touch the sandy bottom. In the end I get so tired, I have to stop to take a break. The Ambon stops as well and he is facing me, exactly what I wanted.
In Holland we have a fish, which is similar to a Scorpio. The ’donderpad’ has spines, once I was even attacked; it takes me by surprise, because it is a small fish, but I back off to give it some space!
Once you are interested in the Scorpio’s, it is a fascinating species, with many different forms. A very formidable one is the Indian Walkman; it has legs under the head, which he really uses for walking (Innimicus didactylus). Also in Lembeh the guide shows me one which is half hidden in the sand. You can hardly see it, as it is very well camouflaged. I have seen a similar species in the Red Sea, at the Aquaba house reef; of course over there it is called the Red Sea walkman. The very first time I set my eyes on this species is in Sabang Beach. Also on the house reef there are 3 of them, one big one and two small ones. In my fantasy it is a big female with the two small males fighting for her attention, who knows?

One of my greatest wish is to find the Rhinopias, therefore we went to Lembeh. The best way to go diving there could very well be with the divers lodge, you get a guide and a boat, no other divers! From the very first day we have been asking for the Rhinopias and yes, they had found one! We went looking and looking, the right place, the proper depth? We could not find anything, totally concentrated on pink, that was the color. You would think it was an easy color to spot, but no, even with four of us, we could not find it. The fish sits still and the color blends in the surroundings, even pink! They are the masters of the camouflage, a real Scorpio! The next day we went with another guide: Andres, he found it immediately. We were very happy and took a lot of pictures. I understood why we did not find it the day before, it was perfectly camouflaged, even with the bright pink color. Then we heard there is also another one, a red Rhinopias. Again Andre came with us and he found it close to the pink one. Very surprising as they are 2 different species. And he found a yellow ribbon eel and a very rare nudibranch. It was our lucky day! Before I went to Lembeh, I made a wish list and after 3 or 4 days the list was done!
The red rhinopias was covered with hair: the Lacy, Rhinopias aphanes and we already had the pink one, the Weedy, Rhinopias frondosa. When you see them from the front, they are very thin, more like the leaf fish…but much bigger!

Also in Lembeh I found a little fish, which looked more like a gobius, only it did not swim away. That could be a warning signal, the fish either depends on its camouflage or it is poisonous… With the Scorpio’s is it often both! Close to this beige/yellow ’gobius’ I find another one, also resting motionless in the sand. This one is dark brown and does not move an inch, not even with the big camera in front of its nose…. Not until later I found this species in the books and it turns out to be a highly unusual Scorpio, the velvet fish (Caracanthus maculatus).

Another fearful looking animal is the Stargazer (Uranoscopus bicinctus). It is a sturdy fish, mostly hiding in the sand, with only the eyes sticking out! Our guide Lito from Cocktail divers always finds it, we would certainly miss it. It can bite you, give you an electrical shock and sting you. Even if it is not a Scorpio, it certainly belongs to the dangerous fish species!

A famous Scorpio is the Lion fish (Pterois volitans); this one swims around, in contrary with the previous species. With the long spines on the back and the side it is a very elegant looking fish. It is so pretty, sometimes it is even kept in aquarium. But never to be trusted, with cleaning you have to be very careful, a sting is very painful and can last for several days! I have a nice picture of this fish with the sun taken in Eilat. But during a night dive in Eilat a lion fish accompanies me and swims along. At first I liked it, but soon I find out I am being misused in a bad way… The fish only wants to hunt in my diving lights, after eating the second fish in front of my nose; I get fed up and swim away. I leave it behind in the dark. But before that I have already taken some nice pictures up close, from its face and the eye. Tit for tat. You use me, I use you!

From the ‘normal’ looking Scorpio, the bearded one, with the many tentacles (Scorpaenopsis oxycephalus), I have nice pictures from Sabang: in the corals, on top of the corals. It is nothing special, just a pretty fish! I always go back to Sabang. Because the Kakatoe whaspfish we also know from Sabang, later we find it in other places, but where you have seen a new species for the time, you always remember. The whasp fish really looks like a fallen leaf and it falls sideways with the water movements, like a leaf. It is in all colors, from dark brown till pinkish white. But be careful, because the first back fin has a spine with venom. Never come close and never touch anything. Just enjoy the nice pictures and leave the hazards for the photographer!

Appendix:
Last October I was diving exactly 30 years. To celebrate we go to Anilao, an unknown diving area, situated south of Manila, close to the harbor Batangas. It is a secret Tip!
At first we are very disappointed by the visibility. We are just having a bit of a rainy spell and with the rain everything comes down the mountain into the water, reducing the viz to nearly zero! The next days it is getting better and we start to scout the surrounding area. Our guide Danny leads the way. I find a nice fish on the sand. The jaw fish is cleaning out his house. I lower myself onto the sand to observe this interesting animal behavior. All of a sudden I feel something pushing me in my underarm, close to my elbow. I look for my attacker and see a very angry scorpion fish, a real Demon stinger, also called Indian Walkman (Innimicus didactylus). He was probably hiding in the sand, therefore I did not see it al all! Now it came out of the sand, totally red and all the venomous spines erect. Like this I would never has missed it! But my arm stars to hurt; I had been stung before by sea urchin spines, it felt like the same pain, normally the pain ebbs away after 10 or 15 minutes. In the meantime I start to take pictures, as it was a really beautiful angry Walkman! My buddies come and I point to the Demon Stinger and to my elbow, but nobody gets the message. We take more pictures of my attacker, but now my arm really starts to hurt, in stead of getting less, it is getting worse! I cannot not hold the camera with my left arm anymore. Fortunately Danny asks if I want to go up, Yes, I nod firmly! We end the dive and go back to the resort. I take a shower and hold my arm under the cold water, no relief. I try Azaron, by now my arm gets all red and swollen. At lunch I try vinegar, no help at all. The pain starts to come in waves, I get nauseous and I give my lunch to my buddy. In the restaurant of the Anilao outrigger resort they have internet connection. We get our laptops and the first thing we find is this message: a sting from a Demon Stinger can be fatal. That is no help! It continues: a doctor cannot help; even morphine will not reduce the pain! I start to get dizzy and getting afraid to faint. Then we find at the same time that heat will kill the protein in the poison. We get some hot water in a teacup and I grab some tissues from the table with my right hand. I wait a couple of seconds, no need to add a burn to my misery. I put the warm tissue on my arm and I feel an instant relief. I continue to put the tissue in the hot water and put it on my arm after cooling it down for a moment. I am still feeling dizzy and nauseous; we go to the room to rest. I bring my cup of hot water and change the tissues for cottenwool pads, as the tissues are falling apart all the time. The people from the resort come to ask how I am doing. I inform them I am getting better and there is no need to call a doctor (as we read he cannot do anything anyway).
In the evening I stop with the warm compress, only the spots where I was stung still hurt, we put a band aid on it! I can eat normally and the next day I feel good enough to go diving. There are 4 obvious stings from the stinger, the wounds are already healing. I think this is it and forget it!
Until one week later, after the dive my arm starts itching, like a mosquito bite. But we are on the ocean, there are no mosquitoes. Now I have 5 bites (I missed one the week before), not painful but itching terribly. Another friend brings anti- histamine crème and tablets. Without much confidence I take the treatment, now there are no doctors, so I have no choice! The itching starts every time after the last dive of the day, that makes us think that there are still bits of spine left in my wetsuit. I again pour hot water for the tea in an empty bottle and rinse the inside of my suit, hoping it will help, but it does not. I have to continue the anti-histamine treatment for 4 weeks! In all my diving years I never get hurt so bad before. It is an unwelcome gift for my 30th celebration!