Look what our Divemaster Paul spotted at East Garden!

The Hairy Frogfish surely looks like its' name - Hairy! The "hairs" are actually fleshy extensions covering the whole of its body resembling hairs. The hairy frog fish is also known as striated frog fish and can when necessary change colour to help blend into the environment and hide. This adoption takes anything between 2 -5 weeks to complete. 

All frogfishes, Antennarius hispidus is a voracious carnivores which will devour all right-sized prey that passes within reach, usually other fishes but sometimes, even its own kind. It can swallow prey its own size. Hairy frog fish has also been seen to stalk prey along the bottom....

If you have ever seen a frog fish swim you will have noticed how poor swimmers they are. They would mostly move by "walking" along on the bottom. 

Males grow to sizes of 12 cm, females to 25cm, so based on the previous information : a male who is trying to find a new partner, needs to be cautious as the females can literally swallow a partner she does not fancy!..... talk about a hard dating system :)