Buried stingfish that walks on three free pectoral rays. Venomous dorsal spines.
A small stingfish to about 12 cm, pale grey to pinkish and crossed on the back and sides by irregular orange to reddish bands and blotches, with a blunt, rough-surfaced head and short fleshy barbels beneath the chin that give it the older name of bearded ghoul. The animal it is confused with is the demon stinger Inimicus didactylus, and the reliable count is the free pectoral rays: three on each side in Choridactylus, two in Inimicus. Inimicus is also larger and carries a long, strongly upturned snout, while this fish has a short, almost square face. The whiteface waspfish Richardsonichthys leucogaster is smaller again, more evenly mottled, and has no free rays.
Spends most of its time part-buried in soft sediment with only the eyes and the top of the head showing, and uses the free pectoral rays to feel over the bottom and to walk short distances rather than to swim. Feeds at night on small crustaceans and fish taken with a fast upward snap. When it does move it spreads the pectoral fins and shows bright markings on their inner faces, which is the display worth waiting for and does not last long.
Recorded from about 3 to 30 m on silt and fine sand, generally away from coral. On the venom: it belongs with the stonefishes and their relatives, and a puncture from the dorsal spines is treated as a serious sting rather than a scratch.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
