Curious to ID this strange fish

Hi folks,

I went wakeboarding a few weeks ago (in Hong Kong) and when we were returning to the dock, I ran into some local weekend hobby fisherman who were dividing up and cleaning their catch.

They mostly had a bunch of small rock cods and garoupa fish. But one fish in their pile on the dock really caught my eye and I was so intrigued, I asked if I could take a picture.

The fish looks like a cross between a spiny puffer with a large mouth, flying fish and lion fish (because of the fins). It was about 8 inches long. Too bad he was already dead and about to become someone's dinner.

I tried looking at fishbase.org but the site seems to be down. I'm not sure what other online resources you recommend for identifying fish.

In any case, if you're curious here's a picture of the fish (he's already scaled). What do you think it is?

 

Sea robin?

http://www.gotosnapshot.com/Com_C_Robin/ComCRobin_catalog.html

 

maybe.... now just maybe... a Flying Gurnard

Had one in my old FO tank... very very very cool fish. They "walk" around the bottom of the tank lifting up the sand and digging in with the front part of there wings to find food. they also make a deep clicking sound when they are scared or stressed.

But from your pick it could also be a sea robin like amcarrig said. hard to tell since its dead. but they are from the same family.

Marc.

 

Yup, definitely looks like a flying gurnard to me too!  My LFS (2 hours away!)  has a marine touch tank for kids with these in it

http://www.thatpetplace.com/touchtank/residents.html

They are way cool, but pretty big!  and shy....

 

Wow, thanks! That's really cool! I think it's probably a Flying Gurnard because in the photo there is the extra long dorsal fin on top of the head that the Sea Gurnard doesn't seem to have.

In any case, it looks like a really interesting fish. Reminds me a bit of that little "harmless" looking lizard dinosaur from Jurassic Park I that scared the fat guy when he was stuck in the jeep.

m_lacom99 -- that's neat you actually had one. How long did it last in your tank?

 

[quote author=Om_Seeker link=board=Fish;num=1102394845;start=0#4 date=12/07/04 at 19:10:54]
m_lacom99 -- that's neat you actually had one. How long did it last in your tank?[/quote]

Had it for about a year & 1/2. great fish. fascinating to watch hunt for food. not much of a swimmer but can move around when he needs to, most of the time is on the SB looking for stuff. They do get pretty big mine was about 7 inches. I'm thinking of upgrading my 55 to 120 gallons, if i do i will get one for sure.

Marc.