The northern stargazer is a strange-looking fish with a speckled, flattened body and a large head. (Canvasman21/Wikimedia Commons)
The northern stargazer is a strange-looking fish with a speckled, flattened body and a large head. It lives at the bottom of the lower Chesapeake Bay’s deep, open waters.
Appearance:
Blackish-brown body with white spots that gradually get bigger from the head to the tail
Flattened body
Large head with mouth and eyes located on the top, facing upward
Three dark, horizontal lines on the tail
Can grow to 22 inches long, but is usually 8-18 inches long
Habitat:
Lives at the bottom of deep, open waters
Range:
Found mostly in the lower Chesapeake Bay, but sometimes travels to the upper Bay in autumn
Ranges along the Atlantic Coast between New York and North Carolina
Feeding:
Eats small fish, crabs and other crustaceans
Hunts by burying itself in the sand with its eyes and mouth sticking out just enough to search for prey. Once it sees something tasty swim by, the stargazer uses its large mouth to create a vacuum to suck its prey in.
Reproduction and Life Cycle:
Spawns in May-June
Lays small, transparent eggs on the bottom of the Bay
Eggs eventually float to the surface and hatch
Larvae grow rapidly, feeding from a yolk sac until it is completely absorbed
Once they grow to about 12-15 millimeters long, larvae swim to the bottom of the Bay, where they mature into adults. At this time their electric organ also begins to form.
Other Facts:
Scientific name, Astrocopus, means "one who aims at the stars," and guttatus means "speckled"
Uses its side fins as shovels to quickly burrow below the sand in a matter of seconds
Has an organ on its head that can deliver an electric charge that stuns and confuses its prey and also helps ward off predators. Watch this video of a northern stargazer to see it bury itself, then deliver a surprising shock to the cameraman!
Sources and Additional Information:
Fishes of Chesapeake Bay by Edward O. Murdy, Ray S. Birdsong and John A. Musick
