Synanceia verrucosa

Synanceiidae
Reef Stonefish
  • Synanceia verrucosa, Maldives, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
    Synanceia verrucosa, Maldives, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
  • Synanceia verrucosa, Keppel Islands, Queensland, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
    Synanceia verrucosa, Keppel Islands, Queensland, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
  • Synanceia verrucosa, Naigani Is, Fiji, Photo: Andrew Green
    Synanceia verrucosa, Naigani Is, Fiji, Photo: Andrew Green
  • Synanceia verrucosa, Naigani Is, Fiji, Photo: Andrew Green
    Synanceia verrucosa, Naigani Is, Fiji, Photo: Andrew Green
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Large head and tapering body, mouth is on top of face and opens vertically. Extremely well camouflaged, sits on the bottom completely motionless, sometimes buried in sand with only eyes and mouth visible. Has a depression between eyes, unlike very similar S. horrida (Estuarine Stonefish), which has a ridge between the eyes. Both Synanceia (Stonefishes) species have potent venom in spines on their backs which, if a wound is received, causes excruciating pain and in some cases death.
Information
  • Max Size: 40 cm
  • Sea Temperature Range: 14.9-30.8°C
  • Depth: 0-30m
  • Habitat: Coral Reef, Soft sediment
Rarity
  • IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
  • Occurrence: Infrequent (1% of sites)
    Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
  • Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
    Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: RD Stuart-Smith, GJ Edgar, AJ Green, IV Shaw. 2015. Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland
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