Anglerfish
Other names: Angler
Description
The angry-looking deep sea anglerfish is quite possibly the ugliest animal on the planet, and it lives in what is easily Earth's most inhospitable habitat: the lonely, lightless bottom of the sea.
Anglerfish are the members of the order Lophiiformes. They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, wherein a fleshy growth from the fish's head (the esca) acts as a lure; this is considered analogous to angling.
Some anglerfish are pelagic (live in the open water), others are benthic (bottom-dwelling). Some live in the deep sea (e.g. Ceratiidae) and others on the continental shelf (e.g. the frogfishes Antennariidae and the monkfish/goosefish Lophiidae). They occur worldwide. Pelagic forms are most laterally (sideways) compressed whereas the benthic forms are often extremely dorsoventrally compressed (depressed) often with large upward pointing mouths.
There are more than 200 species of anglerfish, most of which live in the murky depths of the Atlantic and Antarctic oceans, up to a mile below the surface, although some live in shallow, tropical environments. Generally dark gray to dark brown in color, they have huge heads and enormous crescent-shaped mouths filled with sharp, translucent teeth. Some angler fish can be quite large, reaching 3.3 feet (1 meter) in length. Most however are significantly smaller, often less than a foot.
Their most distinctive feature, worn only by females, is a piece of dorsal spine that protrudes above their mouths like a fishing pole—hence their name. Tipped with a lure of luminous flesh this built-in rod baits prey close enough to be snatched. Their mouths are so big and their bodies so pliable, they can actually swallow prey up to twice their own size.
The male, which is significantly smaller than the female,has evolved into a permanent parasitic mate. When a young, free-swimming male angler encounters a female, he latches onto her with his sharp teeth. Over time, the male physically fuses with the female, connecting to her skin and bloodstream and losing his eyes and all his internal organs except the testes. A female will carry six or more males on her body.
The sargassum frogfish (Histrio histrio) is one of the most interesting creatures in the big blue, and an easy fish to keep if you practice good aquarium maintenance. This fish belongs to the family Antennariidae, which are known commonly as frog or angler fishes. The family contains 41 species that range in size from 2-inch dwarfs to the mammoth roughjaw frogfish (Antennarius avalonis), which reaches more than 16 inches in total length. The sargassum frogfish can attain a maximum length of 6 inches. If you want to keep a monster as a pet this is it.
