A rare golden stonefish caught near Ly Son Island off the coast of central Vietnam’s Quang Ngai Province is the talk of the town amongst marine experts and enthusiasts.

Duong Trung Hau, the owner of the golden stonefish, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday that divers found the 300-gram fish near Ly Son Island a few days earlier.

Hau and several local divers and fishermen said that they had never before seen a golden stonefish in the locality.

They added the fish’s fin is uniquely shaped like a folding fan.

Stonefishes are extremely well camouflaged, typically mimicking the look of encrusted rock or coral, according to the Australian Museum. 

Found in the coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific, they are usually brown or gray, occasionally with patches of yellow, orange, or red.

“Stonefish are numerous and no strangers to Ly Son, but even a 90-year-old uncle of mine had never seen a golden stonefish in the flesh for his entire life,” said local fisherman Duong Thuan.

Hau said he has been welcoming guests to his house to see the stonefish since he first bought it from the divers who caught the fish.

He plans to sell the golden stonefish to an ornamental fish collector in Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province, south-central Vietnam for VND5 million (US$212).

“I decided to sell it because [the buyer] said he would care for it, so hopefully many people on the mainland will have the opportunity to admire the fish,” Hau added.

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