And you are right! You don’t like the idea of being around the world’s most poisonous fish and not knowing it. The good news is that stonefish use their spines defensively, not offensively, so the fish won’t go out of its way to attack you. If you step on the fish however, it’s a different story. Also, the good news is there have been very few deaths (that we know of). However, stings require immediate medical attention. This involves heat immersion, which helps denature the venom, and injection of anti-venom.

At the stonefish have excellent camouflage—their bodies are typically brown with orange, yellow or red patches and are textured to resemble the surrounding rocks or coral. You could swim right by a stonefish and never know it was there! Stonefish use this to their advantage while hunting, and will wait for fish to swim by then swiftly attack and swallow their prey. Stonefish are one of the most venomous fish in the world with potential fatal local and systemic toxicity effects to humans.