Stargazer

For other meanings of stargazer, see Stargazer (disambiguation).

The stargazers are a family Uranoscopidae of perciform fish that have eyes on top of their heads (thus the name). The family includes about 50 species in nine genera, all marine and found worldwide in shallow waters.

In addition to the top-mounted eyes, stargazers also have a large upward-facing mouth in a large head. Their usual habit is to bury themselves in sand, and leap upwards to ambush prey (benthic fish and invertebrates) that passes overhead. Some species have a worm-shaped lure growing out of the floor of the mouth, which they can wiggle to attract prey's attention. Both the dorsal and anal fins are relatively long; some lack dorsal spines. Lengths range from 18 cm up to 90 cm, for the giant stargazer Kathetostoma giganteum.

Stargazers are one of the venomous fish; they have two large poison spines situated behind the opercle and above the pectoral fins.

Stargazer is also the name for a mutant mouse line that contains a mutation of a gene encoding the protein, stargazin, a transmembrane protein that acts as an accessory subunit of mammalian glutamate receptors. Stargazer animals are ataxic, owing to deficits in cerebellar function, and manifest epileptic seizures.

References

["Uranoscopidae"]. FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.

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