Scatophagus argus

Spotted Scat
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Scatophagidae
Genus:	Scatophagus
Species:	S. argus
Binomial name
Scatophagus argus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms
Cacodoxus argus Chaetodon argus Chaetodon atromaculatus Ephippus argus Scatophagus argus argus Scatophagus argus atromaculatus

Scatophagus argus belong to the scat family (Scatophagidae) and occur in 2 basic color morphs which are called Green Scat and Ruby Scat or Red Scat. As a whole, the species is called Spotted Scat. This fish is generally distributed around the Indo-Pacific region, to Japan, New Guinea and Southeastern Australia. They are quite popular aquarium fish.

These fish are kept for their looks and curious behavior, especially in body structure resembling the famous discus fish. Unlike the delicate freshwater discus cichlids, the scats are hard fish of brackish and seawater that tolerate freshwater only when young. Otherwise they are fairly easy to keep, and they look very beautiful with black spots on their body.

As a baby they live in a fresh water environment, but as they mature they move to salt water environment. Since they do not live in temperate waters, they require at least a little warmth (21C to 28C).

As a young they may not require a big aquarium but they can grow big, so big aquarium with salty water is much preferred for this fish. This species is fairly peaceful if enough space is given. But sometimes they harass other species.

The Common Scat is omnivorous and an indiscriminate eater. Food includes vegetables, small animals and debris, and they usually readily take frozen and flake food. They also tend to eat aquarium plants. And due to there eating habit they are quite messy fish, requiring a strong filtration. Ironically, for older specimens water quality is actually a bigger issue the saltier the water – in the purest freshwater (as required by many rainforest fish) they will quickly succumb, tolerating hard and somewhat dirty freshwater far better. In seawater, their messy eating habits make buildup of toxic protein decay prioducts a significant issue to be controlled, if they are kept in groups as they prefer given enough space.

Scatophagus argus is eaten by some people from its original environment, and can sting with small spikes in its anterior parts, inflicting a venom that causes pain greater than the wound size, and dizzyness. Treatment of the wound is often done by soaking the infliction in hot water.

References

Gisha Sivan; K. Venketesvaran, C.K. Radhakrishnan (2010)"Characterization of biological activity of Scatophagus argus venom". Toxicon (Elsevier Ltd) 56 : 914–925 Gisha Sivan; and C.K. Radhakrishnan (2007)Renal lysosomal functions on exposure to Scatophagusargusvenom in experimental mice. Toxicological mechanisms and methods(Informa world) 17: 519 – 526.