The smallest stonefish there is, 13.5 cm (5.3 in) against the 40 cm of its famous cousin, and the one you are most likely to be standing next to without knowing. Same warty skin under a coat of mucus that collects sand and algae, same high-set eyes, same habit of sitting still on rubble in three to eighteen meters of water.
It was described in 1973, from a bay on the Sinai coast of the Gulf of Aqaba - this sea is its type locality, and it lives here, in the Gulf and along the northwest 🌊 Indian Ocean, and nowhere else. The name nana simply means dwarf.
Small does not mean mild. Fourteen dorsal spines carry the same paired venom glands and the same verrucotoxin as the Reef Stonefish, and they work the same way: the spines rise when the fish is disturbed, and downward weight compresses the glands and drives the venom up the shaft. A sting from this species is a hospital matter exactly like a sting from the larger one, and the first aid is the same - the limb into water as hot as the patient can stand, around 45 C (113 F), because the toxin is a protein and heat takes it apart.
What makes it worth respecting is the size. A 40 cm stonefish is at least a shape on the bottom once you know what to look for. This one is the size of a stone among stones, in the shallow rubble where people stand up, adjust a fin or put a hand down to steady themselves.
The genus. Synanceia Bloch & Schneider 1801 - syn- (with) + angeíon (cavity). ETYFish
- stonefish shape in miniature, never longer than a hand
- warty skin under a mucus layer that collects sand and algae
- eyes set high on a broad head, mouth angled upward
- 14 dorsal spines with dark edges
- length up to 13.5 cm
