View source for Stargazer (fish)

{{Short description|Family of ray-finned fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Stargazer
| image = FMIB 45714 Kathetostoma laeve.jpeg
| image_caption = Common stargazer, ''[[Kathetostoma laeve]]''
| taxon = Uranoscopidae
| authority = [[David Starr Jordan|Jordan]] & [[Barton Warren Evermann|Evermann]], 1898
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = See text
}}

The '''stargazers''' are a [[family (biology)|family]], '''Uranoscopidae''', of [[perciform]] [[ray-finned fish]] that have eyes on top of their heads (hence the name). The family includes about 51 species (one extinct) in eight [[genus|genera]], all [[ocean|marine]] and found worldwide in shallow and deep saltwaters.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bray |first=Dianne |title=Family Uranoscopidae |url=http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/82 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140930123807/http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/82 |archive-date=30 September 2014 |accessdate=30 September 2014 |website=Fishes of Australia}}</ref>

== Description ==
In addition to the top-mounted eyes, a stargazer also has a large, upward-facing mouth in a large head.  Their usual habit is to bury themselves in sand, and leap upwards to ambush prey ([[Demersal fish|benthic fish]] and [[invertebrate]]s) that pass overhead. Some species have a worm-shaped lure growing out of the floors of their mouths, which they can wiggle to attract prey's attention. Both the [[dorsal fin|dorsal]] and [[anal fin]]s are relatively long; some lack dorsal spines.  Lengths range from 18 up to 90&nbsp;cm, for the [[giant stargazer]] ''Kathetostoma giganteum''.

Stargazers are [[venom (poison)|venomous]]; they have two large venomous spines situated behind their [[opercle]]s and above their [[pectoral fin]]s. The species within the genera ''[[Astroscopus]]'' and ''[[Uranoscopus]]'' can also cause [[electric shock]]s. ''Astroscopus'' species have a single [[Electric organ (biology)|electric organ]] consisting of modified eye muscles, while ''[[Uranoscopus]]'' species have theirs derived from sonic muscles.<ref name="Alves-Gomes 2001">{{cite journal|last=Alves-Gomes |first=J. A. |title=The evolution of electroreception and bioelectrogenesis in teleost fish: a phylogenetic perspective |journal=Journal of Fish Biology |year=2001 |volume=58 |issue=6 |pages=1489–1511 |doi=10.1006/jfbi.2001.1625 }}</ref> These two genera within stargazers represent one of eight independent evolutions of [[bioelectrogenesis]].<ref name="Alves-Gomes 2001"/> They are unique among [[electric fish]] in not possessing electroreceptors, meaning that they do not use an electric sense to locate prey.<ref name="Alves-Gomes 2001"/>

[[File:Star-Gazer Astroscopus y-graecum electric organ site.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.7|Stargazer's paired [[Electric organ (biology)|electric organ]]s are aligned vertically inside the head, behind the eyes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berry |first1=Frederick H. |last2=Anderson |first2=William W. |title=Stargazer fishes from the western north Atlantic (Family Uranoscopidae) |journal=[[Proceedings of the United States National Museum]] |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/16829/1/USNMP-112_3448_1961.pdf |volume=1961 |year=1961 }}</ref> Uniquely, they are used only for hunting or defence, as the fish does not [[Electroreception and electrogenesis|electrolocate]].<ref name="Alves-Gomes 2001"/>]]

Stargazers are a delicacy in some cultures (the venom is not poisonous when eaten), and they can be found for sale in some [[fish market]]s with the electric organ removed. Stargazers are [[ambush predator]]s which camouflage themselves; some can deliver both venom and electric shocks. Ichthyologist  [[William Leo Smith]] called them "the meanest things in creation".<ref name="Grady 2006">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/science/22fish.html?ei=5094&en=3d2f666379306107&hp=&ex=1156219200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print |title=Venom Runs Thick in Fish Families, Researchers Learn |last=Grady |first=Denise |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207062017/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/science/22fish.html |archive-date=7 December 2013}}</ref>

== Genera ==

Uranscopidae contains the following genera: <ref name = fbyc>{{FishBase family|family=Uranscopidae|month=June|year=2022}}</ref>

{{Linked genus list
| Astroscopus | Brevoort, 1860
| Genyagnus | [[Theodore Gill|Gill]], 1861
| Ichthyscopus | [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1839
| Kathetostoma | [[Albert Günther|Günther]], 1860
| Pleuroscopus | [[Keppel Harcourt Barnard|Barnard]], 1927
| Selenoscopus | [[Osamu Okamura|Okamura]] & [[Hirokazu Kishimoto|Kishimoto]], 1993
| Uranoscopus | [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| Xenocephalus | [[Johann Jakob Kaup|Kaup]], 1858
}}

<gallery mode=packed heights=100px>
File:FMIB 45715 Kathetostoma nigrofasciatum.jpeg|[[Deepwater stargazer]]<br />''(Kathetostoma nigrofasciatum)''
File:Northern Stargazer.JPG|[[Northern stargazer]]<br />''(Astroscopus guttatus)''
File:Uranoscopus sulphureus.jpg|[[Whitemargin stargazer]]<br />''(Uranoscopus sulphureus)''
File:FMIB 51513 Star-Gazer Astroscopus y-graecum.jpeg|[[Southern stargazer]]<br />''(Astroscopus y-graecum)''
</gallery>

=== Timeline ===

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 from: -23.03    till: -2.588    color:neogene    text:[[Neogene]]
 from: -2.588    till: 0   color:quaternary    text:[[Quaternary|Q.]]

</timeline>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{ external media
| float  = right
| width  = 250px
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAKbYQmNon4 Stargazer lunges from sand] – ''YouTube''
| video2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xITBwnlbO6s  Little Red Cardinalfish gets eaten by hidden Stargazer!] – ''YouTube''
}}
{{commons category|Uranoscopidae}}

* {{FishBase family | family = Uranoscopidae | month = May | year = 2006}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Gomon | first1 = M.F. | last2 = Roberts | first2 = C.D. | year = 2011 | title = A second New Zealand species of the stargazer genus ''Kathetostoma'' (Trachinoidei: Uranoscopidae) | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 2776 | pages = 1–12 | doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.2776.1.1 | doi-access = free |ref=none}}

{{Electric fish}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q183280}}

[[Category:Uranoscopidae| ]]
[[Category:Venomous fish]]
[[Category:Strongly electric fish]]
[[Category:Extant Tortonian first appearances]]
[[Category:Taxa named by David Starr Jordan]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Barton Warren Evermann]]