Page 352 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

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sensory
hairs

large
mouth

ORDER LOPHIIFORMES with very long projecting fin rays.
It is also covered in sensory hairs,
Hairy Angler giving it a disheveled appearance.
Like most anglerfish, it has a movable
Caulophryne jordani lure on top of the head that is formed
LENGTH Females up to from the first spine of the dorsal fin.
8 in (20 cm); males not The biology of the hairy angler is
recorded, but tiny poorly known because only a few
WEIGHT Not recorded specimens have ever been captured.
DEPTH 330–5,000 ft However, in other deep-sea anglerfish,
(100–1,500 m) this lure is used to attract prey within
DISTRIBUTION Deep water worldwide reach. The fish then opens its mouth allow them to swallow prey as big or
and creates a sudden, strong inward bigger than themselves. The hairy
Anglerfish include some of the most suction current. The prey is engulfed angler belongs to the family adult. This species is often difficult to
bizarrely shaped fish in the ocean and within a fraction of a second. Food is Caulophrynidae, also known as fanfins. identify because so few are caught and
the hairy angler certainly fits into this scarce in the deep sea and anglerfish The males of fish in this family are they are often damaged from contact
category. It has a huge mouth, tiny living here usually have extra-large tiny and do not have lures. They live as with nets and from changes in pressure
eyes, and large dorsal and anal fins mouths and expandable stomachs that parasites on the females when they are as they are brought to the surface.

ORDER LOPHIIFORMES able to float more easily. It has
no need to swim much as it lures its
Deep-sea Angler prey within reach. Female deep-sea
anglers have been caught undamaged
Bufoceratias wedli by research submarines using a piece
LENGTH Females up to of equipment called a slurp gun that
10 in (25 cm); males not sucks animals into a container. The fish
recorded have then been photographed alive.
WEIGHT Not recorded Males have not yet been seen but are
DEPTH 1,000–5,700 ft likely to be tiny and free-living.
(300–1,750 m)
rod and
DISTRIBUTION Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, lure
and Atlantic
Living in the deep sea, this
Fish of the family Ogcocephalidae, to small, dark-colored anglerfish
ORDER LOPHIIFORMES
which the polka-dot batfish belongs, has a round body,
Polka-dot Batfish are among the most oddly shaped of delicate fins, and a
the anglerfish. They prop themselves luminescent lure at
up on paired pectoral and pelvic fins the end of a long rod
Ogcocephalus radiatus that enable them to walk over the sea called an illicium.
OCEAN LIFE DISTRIBUTION Subtropical waters of western and fish. Although the polka-dot smaller rod on round
LENGTH
A second, much
bed in search of worms, crustaceans,
Up to 15 in (38 cm)
WEIGHT
the head is often
batfish has a fishing lure, this is very
Not recorded
short and evidence suggests it may
hidden from view.
DEPTH
secrete an odor that attracts potential
It has a weak
0–230 ft (0–70 m)
skeleton and small
prey. A hard, spiny skin protects these
body
fish from predators, but they are so
muscles that make it
Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
relatively light and
sluggish that divers can pick them up.