Bearded Ghoul
Inimicus didactylus
- Usual depth1–74 m
- Water temperature23–30 °C
- Best monthsJanuary, April, and October
- How commonRare
About this species
Inimicus didactylus, also known as sea goblin, demon stinger or devil stinger or red sea walkman, is a Western Pacific member of the Inimicus genus of venomous fishes, closely related to the true stonefishes. It can reach a body length of 25 cm (10 in) and is irregularly surfaced with spines and a knobby appearance. The fish has venomous spines to ward off enemies. The fish are nocturnal, and often dig themselves partially into the sandy seabed during the day. The body is red or sandy yellow and well camouflaged on sandy and coral seabeds.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Inimicus didactylus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 5 records
- February: 3 records
- March: 2 records
- April: 8 records
- May: 4 records
- June: 0 records
- July: 3 records
- August: 2 records
- September: 2 records
- October: 8 records
- November: 4 records
- December: 2 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–74 m · Deepest record: 94.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Bearded Ghoul, Bearded Ghoulfish, Demon Stinger, Devil Stinger, Devil Stingerfish, Goblinfish, Indian Walkman, Longsnout Stinger, Longsnout Stingerfish, lumpfish, Spiny Devilfish
Names in 3 more languages
- French
- Poisson-démon
- Japanese
- Himeoniokoze, ヒメオニオコゼ
- Simplified Chinese
- 石狗公, 石頭魚, 虎魚, 貓魚, 雙指鬼鮋, 鬼虎魚, 魚虎
Other scientific names: Scorpaena didactyla
Similar species
- Spotted ghoul
Inimicus sinensis
- Stonefish
Synanceia verrucosa
- Painted Stinger
Minous pictus
- Whitetail Goblinfish
Minous quincarinatus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 144 open-data records from 1769 to 2019.
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