An old friend of iCabo.com, Mario Bañaga, who has fished the waters around Cabo and the East Cape for almost two decades, got quite a surprise last Thursday when he reeled in one of the strangest fish to be caught in the waters around Los Cabos. The fish is called a Pacigic Stargazer, although it is actually a bottom dweller. Mario had never seen a stargazer and did not know what it was. With its upturned face, like that of a bulldog, and an enormous mouth, it certainly gave him some pause before handling it..
It wasn't until Bañaga, who charters boats via the Cabo San Lucas Marlin Club, posted photos of the 7-pound fish on Facebook that a correct identification was made.
"Dang, that's out of Star Wars," one comment read.
The fish is an ambush feeder and lives at 50 feet or deeper, consequently they are seldom seen by humans.
Worryingly, they're reported as being capable of delivering an electrical shock of about 50 volts--not enough to harm a human, but a bit of a wake-up nonetheless. The organs that deliver the shocks are located just behind the eyes.
To make matters more interesting, the fish also possess poisonous spines above their pectoral fins and behind their gill covers and can, potentially, be lethal to humans.
All in all, an interesting, if dangerous, day on the water!