These fish are so spiny, that, as Cate puts it, even accidentally catching one can wound you for life (devilfish = aptly named). This particular specimen had been in the tidal mud for a while, yet still it lived, and its yellow eyes tracked Cate as she walked past it. An experience like that could wound a softy like me for life.
But Cate's tougher than that. I highly recommend visiting her blog: but only if you've got the stomach for life in Hooper Bay and among the Yup'ik.
dang. that looks weird as hell.
ReplyDeleteIs that the right name? I tried to google it to find more, and didn't come up with anything.
ReplyDeleteThis almost looks cartoonish. Having said that, I'm quite certain I'd crap myself if I came across one of these bad boys...
ReplyDeleteWell, actually, that's one of my questions, too -- what its real name is. "Devilfish" is only the local name -- and most folks actually call it by its Yup'ik name, which I'm not sure how to spell. If anyone finds anything, let me know! :)
ReplyDeleteLol DangGina. You beat me to it. I would most definitely crap myself if I saw something like that looking up at me out of the water.
ReplyDeleteI asked a science friend and she said it looks like it belongs to the order scorpaeniformes. That's a start on identifying it.
ReplyDeleteOK, so I'm going to attempt to spell the Yup'ik name:"Kiuqlluaq" which phonetically would be pronounced: "guy-U-thlu-auk"
ReplyDeleteWell, Devil fish (local term) is supposedly Cottus cognatus or slimy sculpin (AKA kayurrlugaq) according to google. That picture does not appear to be of a slimy sculpin.
ReplyDeleteI googled Alaska Sculpin, and I think you're right
ReplyDeletehttp://media.photobucket.com/image/alaska%20sculpin/dvretz/Sea-Monster-_2.jpg
the images look pretty close