Scientific Name	Halieutaea stellata   Pronounce			by: Lab of Fish Ecol. and Evo., BRCAS
Author	(Vahl, 1797)	Depth	50 - 400M
Chinese	棘茄魚	Poisonous Fish	No
Family_Chinese	蝙蝠魚科	Economic Fish	No
Family	F233　Ogcocephalidae	Edible Fish	No	Chinese In Mainland China	棘茄魚
Max Length	30 cm	Aquarium Fish	No	Common Name	棘茄魚、死囝仔魚(澎湖)
Distribution in World	India Ocean to West Pacific Ocean	Distribution in Taiwan	East、West
Habitats	Deep Sea、Benthos、Coastal	Holotype Locality	China
Synonyms	Halieutaea maoria, Halieutaea stallata, Lophius stellatus
Reference	Vahl, M. 1797 沈世傑 1984 Lee, S.-C. 1988 沈世傑 編 Shih-Chieh Shen ed. 1993 Nakabo T. 2002
Specimen List	ASIZP0056118. ASIZP0060051. ASIZP0061138. ASIZP0061492. ASIZP0062548. ASIZP0062550. ASIZP0062551. ASIZP0062589. ASIZP0062590. ASIZP0063553. ASIZP0064430. ASIZP0064546. ASIZP0064550. ASIZP0065479. ASIZP0065489. ASIZP0067778. ASIZP0070149. ASIZP0070153. ASIZP0070176. ASIZP0070234. ASIZP0072179. ASIZP0073865. ASIZP0074779. ASIZP0080603. ASIZP0803539. ASIZP0900378. ASIZP0913539. ASIZP0916361. BPBMI23155. FRIP00516. FRIP01051. FRIP03070. NMMBP01113. NMMBP02871. NMMBP03552. NMMBP03716. NMMBP04302. ...List all 67 records...
Common Name	Starry handfish
Redlist Status	Not in IUCN Redlist
Characteristic	Dorsal fin rays 4; anal fin rays 4; pectoral fin rays 13; pelvic fin rays 5; caudal fin rays 9. Body depressed with a broad circular disk and a tail shorter than disk; head slightly convex in front; mouth large, anteriorly to head; rostrum not project over front of disk, esca visible from above; esca with two not well-separated ventral lobes and a dorsal flap, thin fringe present on entire ventral edge of esca; gill 2 1/2; dorsal surface covered with stout and simple spines, most have more four roots; disk edge including tail spines divided into 3-5 sharp point; dorsal surface covered with dermal spinules between tubercles; ventral surface covered with numerous dermal spinules; interorbit space broader than eye diameter; pinkish to reddish in color; with numerous dark spots arranging in irregular pattern; dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fin with black edge or not.
habitats	Habits in the marine bathydemersal. They are awkward, walking on the bottom on their large armlike pectoral fins and smaller pelvic fins.
Distribution	Widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific Ocaens. It is a very common species around Taiwan.
Utility	No commercial value.