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Demon Stingerfish
Inimicus caledonicus (Sauvage, 1878)

A Demon Stingerfish at a depth of 18 m, Pulau Kerengga, Redang, Terengganu, Malaysia, April 2001. View larger image.

Above and below: A Demon Stingerfish at a depth of 19 m, Mah Canteh, Redang, Terengganu, Malaysia, April 2001. View larger image. View larger image of this fish from the front.

Above and below: A Demon Stingerfish at a depth of 10 m, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia, 2003. View larger image.

View larger image.

The Demon Stingerfish is usually brown, sometimes with whitish blotches. Its eyes are positioned above the dorsal margin of the head. It has long venomous dorsal fin spines that can inflict a painful wound. The lower two pectoral fin rays are detached from the rest of the fin. These are used by the Demon Stingerfish to crawl along the seabed.

This species grows to about 25 cm in length.

It is usually found in sandy areas and seagrass beds in tropical marine waters of the Eastern Indian Ocean to Western Pacific.

In Australia it is known from northern Queensland, south to the northern coast of New South Wales.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

This species is also known as the Bearded Ghoul and Demon Stinger.

Three species of Inimicus occur in Australian waters. These are the Demon Stingerfish, the Longsnout Stinger I.didactylus and the Spotted Stonefish I.sinensis. They can be separated by a combination of characters that include the colouration of the inner surface of the pectoral fin of live fish. The Demon Stingerfish has two dark bands and a pale margin on the inner surface of the pectoral fin. The inner surface of the pectoral fin of the Longsnout Stinger has a dark base and a dark margin. The Spotted Stonefish's inner pectoral surface is dark with white blotches.

Related links

• View the Scorpionfish list
• View the Demon Stingerfish 'Fish in Focus' page.

Further reading

1. Eschmeyer, W.N. & K.V. Rama-Rao. 1979. Fishes of the Scorpionfish subfamily Choridactylinae from the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. XLI(21): 475-500.
2. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
3. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.