Angler

Lophius piscatorius

So today's animal goes by many names -- the Angler, the Sea-devil, the Frog-fish. All of these monikers refer to Lophius piscatorius, a deep sea fish native to the north Atlantic and Mediterranean.

The Angler has a very large head, but a flat body that is absent of scales. As with most Anglerfish species, the females are much much larger than the males-- they can grow over 6ft long, while the males will only grow to a few inches.

These fish live on the sea floor, hiding out near the very bottom and attracting smaller fish to them using a lure. When the prey gets close they suck them in whole. Amazingly, the Angler has a very expandable stomach-- they can consume fish that are nearly as large as they are!

Despite their ugly appearance, Anglers are commercially fished. However, they are listed on the Greenpeace Red List. This is because the trawling method used to fish them up is very damaging to the sea floor. Additionally, these fish have very long lives and mature slowly. Taking large numbers of them is detrimental, as it cane take a very long time for the population to naturally rebound.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Atlantic and Mediterranean
Size : Females up to 6.6ft (2m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii  -- Order : Lophiiformes
Family : Lophiidae -- Genus : Lophius-- Species : L. piscatorius
Image : Meocrisis

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Gigantactis

Gigantactis vanhoeffeni

The name Gigantactis refers to a genus of deep sea fish that can be found in oceans all around the world. They live at depths of between 3,300 and 8,200 feet (1,000-2,500m).

Because they live in such deep, remote places, very little is known about them. So far there have been twenty separate species identified, all of which have different home ranges and sizes.

What is common to all twenty is sexual dimorphism and an elongated dorsal fin. In all species, the females are substantially larger than the males. For example, the largest of them can reach about 40cm long, while the largest males are only about 2.5cm! Huge difference!

The aforementioned dorsal fin is also a signature of the genus. They can grow longer than the body itself, and have a bioluminescent photophore attached at the end to attract meals. These strikingly long features are found only in the females though. Males have their own special anatomy-- they have a supercharged sensory organs that help them to find females!

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Worldwide
Size : Length up to 16in (40cm), but varies

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Lophiiformes
Family : Gigantactinidae -- Genus : Gigantactis

Image : PD

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Footballfish

(Image Source)

I absolutely love the name of these guys, though their looks leave much to be desired. Footballfish is the common name for members of the Himantolophidae family, which has only one genus, Himantolophus, and eighteen species. They are also members of the order Lophiiformes, which is more commonly known as the Anglerfish order! I've covered other order members in the past, but these Footballfish are more in line with what comes to mind when one thinks of Anglerfish. They live in the deep sea, they have large, round bodies with scary looking teeth, they sport "fishing poles," and last but not least, they have some rather interesting mating habits.

So lets break this down. Footballfish (and many other Anglerfish) live in the deep sea. In this case, in tropical and subtropical waters around 3,300 ft. Footballfish display extreme sexual dimorphism, with the females being much, much larger than the males. This will come into play later. The females, with their large, round forms, are slow swimmers, and actually hunt by doing well, not much of anything at all. They have a rod known as an ilicium that has a biioluminescent bulb attached to the end. Due to the depth of water that they live in, the water is especially dark and this bulb attracts prey. Females are then able to snatch their meals right in front of them. They feed mostly off of small fish and cephalopods.

Females are also quite good at attracting potential mates. Remember those tiny male Footballfishes? Well, they never get very big, since they don't typically have the ability to feed, but they are able to track down females due to their great sense of smell and pheromones that the females emit. Once a male finds a much larger lady, he latches on to her with his mouth, and eventually his entire body dissolves into her, leaving behind only gonads which the female is then able to use to impregnate herself with. This comic sums it all up quite nicely (potentially NSW).

It should be noted that not all Footballfish species reproduce this way. Some species have males that are free-living. The whole "attach and dissolve" thing is also common in many other Anglerfish families.

Thanks to Eric for the suggestion!

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Monkfish

Monkfish is a common name for species found within the genus Lophius. Goosefish, Anglerfish and Frogfish are also names sometimes bestowed upon these strange Lophiiformes. (Hey, that's two in one week! Go Lophiiformes!) The various species live in the benthic (ocean-bottoms) zones of the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea. The discrepancy in common names comes from the locations in which the fish is found.

Image from Maryland Recreational Fisheries

Anatomically Monkfish have some interesting features. Their mouth is gigantic, and they are extremely opportunistic eaters. They'll eat fish, (including other Monkfish) crustaceans, mollusks and even seabirds. They can consume prey that is nearly as large as they are. Like many other anglerfishes, Monkfish have spines that can be bent forward to dangle in front of the fish's mouth to act as a lure for prey. There is some sexual dimorphism within the species. Females tend to be a few inches longer, (they can grow longer than 3 feet) and live a few years longer then the males. Males and females reach sexual maturity between 3 and 4 years of age and the eggs masses that are laid are buoyant and float on the ocean surface before hatching.

Monkfish were initially cast aside when they showed up in catches with cod and scallops, but it was discovered that their tails and livers were indeed edible. They are consumed as delicacies, and are sold under the names Anko and Ankimo when used within a sushi or sashimi context. Overfishing has severely damaged their populations, and while rebuilding plans have helped to recover some of their numbers, Seafood Watch still lists them as a species to avoid. They methods used in their fishing can also be damaging to ocean environments, as bottom trawls damage the sea floor and gillnets often catch other threatened species, like sea mammals and turtles.

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Handfish

Image from Aquaportal

Fish with hands? You bet! There are 5 genera and 14 living species of handfish, all of which are pretty rare and difficult to study. Only four examples of the pink handfish have even been found, the last being in 1999. Another species is known only from a single fish... caught in the 19th century. Overall, differentiating between distinct species has been difficult because of the lack of specimens. Taxonomically, the are all members of the family Brachionichthyidae, which takes its name from the Latin words for both arm, (bracchium) and fish (ichthys). They belong to the overall order Lophiiformes, which also includes those terrifying looking deep sea anglerfish.

So what do we know about the elusive and interesting Handfishes? Well, as previously mentioned, there are 14 species, nine of which were just recently named and identified, including the aforementioned Pink Handfish. The Spotted Handfish is a previously known species, and is the best studied of the group... though it is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. All Handfishes make their homes on the shallow sea floors off the coasts of Australia and Tasmania. They use their hand-like flippers to crawl across the bottom, rather than swim. Though their range is limited now, their relatives were walking the sea floors worldwide about 50 million years ago.

Handfish are not particularly abundant because it is believed that they do not reproduce as often as other fish, nor do they lay as many eggs. They are not affected well by environment changes and thus are at a great risk for extinction. And while one would think that their slow movement would allow them to be caught and devoured with ease, it is suspected that they have a certain level of toxicity to them, which acts as a pretty effective defense mechanism. Handfish are relatively small, growing no larger than 12cm in length.

Thanks to Jon for the suggestion!

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