Photo of the Day 140

Scorpion Fish, Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia, 1997

Photograph by David Doubilet

A scorpion fish attempts to hide in the sand in French Polynesia's Tuamotu Archipelago. Masters of disguise, scorpion fish use cryptic coloring and specialized appendages to help them hide from predators and surprise prey. What happens when its cover is blown? The fish uses its highly venomous dorsal spines in a lightning-quick attack.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Black Pearls of French Polynesia," June 1997, National Geographic magazine)