Aquatic Stargazer Horrifies Beachgoers
OutdoorHub Reporters 07.12.16
The aquatic world is a wondrous place full of amazing and unusual things. Sometimes, however, the water coughs up creatures that are downright creepy, such as the northern stargazer.
A fish that normally calls the deep waters of Chesapeake Bay its home, the stargazer has a face only a mother can love. With two eyes situated atop its head and mouth with a jagged look to it, the stargazer could easily be the stuff of nightmares. Factor in that it is capable of delivering an electrical charge thanks to a nifty organ on its head, and your days of sleeping soundly are over.
As if all of this doesn’t already make the northern stargazer seem like a friend you don’t want to make, they are also an ambush predator. In order to catch prey such as small fish, crabs, and crustaceans, they bury themselves in the sand with only eyes and mouth exposed. This wouldn’t necessarily be much of an issue since they prefer deep waters, but they do visit the Atlantic Coast and this one recently popped up in Virginia Beach.
Though the likelihood of a stargazer snagging a human-sized snack is pretty much non-existent, you still might want to avoid giving one an opportunity to taste your toes. That means keeping an eye out for a funky face in the sand anywhere between New York and North Carolina.
