Page 353 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

BONY FISH 351

ORDER LOPHIIFORMES ORDER LOPHIIFORMES catch prey that may be larger than
herself. Her stretchy stomach and
Coffinfish Common Blackdevil loosely attached skin help her
accommodate these huge meals.
Chaunax endeavouri Although the female is not completely
Melanocetus johnsonii
LENGTH Up to 9 in LENGTH Females 7 in blind, her eyes are tiny and she
1
(22 cm) anglerfish called Chaunacidae, or (18 cm); males (1 ⁄4 in) probably cannot see her prey until she
WEIGHT Not recorded seatoads, that have large, flabby bodies 3 cm has enticed it within range using her
and loose skin. Like other anglerfish, it WEIGHT Not recorded glowing lure. By contrast, the male is
DEPTH 160–1,000 ft
(50–300 m) has a lure but this is very small and DEPTH To 6,600 ft tiny and uses his acute sense of smell
can be hidden in a depression on the (2,000 m) to find a mate. He has no teeth but
DISTRIBUTION Temperate waters of southwestern snout. Little is known of its life history, DISTRIBUTION Deep waters of Atlantic, Pacific, and hangs on to the female with special
Pacific, off east coast of Australia but it spends most of its time lying Indian Oceans hooks on his snout. When she has laid
quietly on the bottom in muddy her eggs and he has fertilized them, he
The coffinfish resembles a pink areas. It is usually found in deep water This deep-sea anglerfish is also known swims away, but how much longer
balloon covered in tiny spines and can on the continental shelf and slope, as the humpback angler. The female he lives is not known. Both male
make itself look bigger by inflating its but has also been found in water as common blackdevil has a huge and female juveniles live near the
body. It belongs to a family of shallow as 165 ft (50 m). head and large jaws with very long, surface, where they feed on
daggerlike teeth, which are used to small planktonic animals.
ORDER LOPHIIFORMES
glowing
Sargassumfish lure

Histrio histrio
LENGTH Up to 8 in
(20 cm)
WEIGHT Not recorded
DEPTH About 0–36 ft
(0–11 m)
DISTRIBUTION Tropical and subtropical seas the rafts. With its skin tassels, mottled
worldwide; not recorded in eastern Pacific pattern, and variable color, the
sargassumfish is well camouflaged and
This unusual frogfish (family able to lure small fish and shrimps
Anternnariidae) lives in floating rafts within striking range. If threatened,
of sargassum seaweed. It uses its it can scramble onto the top of the
prehensile, leglike pectoral fins to clasp seaweed raft. These fish are sometimes
clumps of weed and scramble around washed ashore with their rafts.

long,
sharp
teeth

using special hooks.
ORDER LOPHIIFORMES
Finding a mate in the depths of
Regan’s Angler the ocean is difficult and by keeping
the male attached, the female is
assured that her eggs will be fertilized.
Haplophryne mollis
LENGTH Females 3 in The males eventually turn into
3
(8 cm); males ⁄4 in parasites, biting into the female’s skin.
(2 cm) In time their blood supplies fuse and
the male then becomes nourished by
WEIGHT Not recorded
the female. Up to three males have
DEPTH 650–6,600 ft
ORDER LOPHIIFORMES tapers toward the tail. Its darkly (200–2,000 m) been found on a single female.
marbled greenish-brown skin also
Angler helps the angler blend into the DISTRIBUTION Tropical and subtropical deep waters unpigmented,
translucent skin
worldwide
sediment of the sea floor. It lies
patiently on the seabed, ready to
Lophius piscatorius
LENGTH suck in any fish that it can entice This unusual deep-sea anglerfish has
Up to 6 ft (2 m) within range by flicks of the fleshy unpigmented skin. The female of the
WEIGHT Up to 125 lb fishing lure on its dorsal fin. Large species has an almost round body
(57 kg) anglers have even been known to when mature, numerous very small
DEPTH 65–3,300 ft lunge up and catch diving birds. The teeth, spines above the eyes and
(20–1,000 m) species has well-developed pectoral behind the mouth, and a minimal
DISTRIBUTION Northeastern Atlantic south to West fins, set on armlike bases, with sharp fishing lure that consists of just a small
Africa, Mediterranean, and Black Sea “elbows” that allow it to shuffle flap on the snout. Like many other
along over the sea floor. Anglerfish deep-sea anglerfish, the males of this
The angler has a head like a flattened of the genus Lophius are also known species remain very small all their lives
football fringed by a camouflage as goosefishes or fishing frogs. and their sole aim in life is to track
of seaweed-shaped flaps of skin, This species is commercially down a female using their excellent
and a wide, flattened body that exploited and sold as “monkfish.” sense of smell and latch onto her