A slender sand-dwelling fish of European seas that lies buried with only its eyes and its black dorsal fin showing.
A slender fish to about 40 cm, sandy above with fine oblique markings, with eyes set on top of the head and a short first dorsal fin that is jet black. It lies buried in sand with the eyes and sometimes the black fin showing, which is the only warning.
It is found from the shallows to about 150 m on sand and fine gravel, through the north-east Atlantic, the North Sea and the Mediterranean. It is active at night and buried by day, so a day diver meets it buried.
The venom is in the dorsal and opercular spines and the sting is severe. It is not aggressive in any useful sense of the word: it is a hazard to a hand placed on sand that looked empty, and to a bare foot in the shallows. Gloves and not resting a hand on open sand deal with most of the risk.
This entry carries no occurrence record. The animal is listed because it is a hazard a diver should be able to look up, and its range is given above, but none of the destinations this site holds data for is inside that range. A record will be added when there is one to add rather than an estimate to invent.