The age and growth of Synanceia horrida (Linnaeus, 1766) were investigated using otoliths. Otoliths are useful tools in the estimation of fish age and growth. We applied the estimation method to S. horrida, one of the species from the venomous stonefish genus Synanceia present in the Indo-Pacific region. Little is known on the species and the present study is the first to determine the species’ age and growth using sectioned otoliths. Samples were collected using local traps (bubus) at depths of 5–10 m in the southern coastal waters of Singapore. Age and growth were estimated by annual growth increment counts (annuli) from the sectioned otoliths of 33 specimens ranging from 48.3–241 mm in standard length. Age estimates were taken from two readers and its precision was tested by applying both the average percent error (APE) and the mean coefficient of variation (CV). The oldest sample recorded was 12 years old. Three different growth models (Von Bertalanffy, Gompertz and logistic) were fitted to the data for comparison. Despite the small sample size, the study provides a new insight into the growth of a species of scorpaenids in tropical waters.