Anglerfish are a group of ray-finned fish that constitute the order Lophiiformes. They derive their name from the modified dorsal spine, which functions like a fishing rod to lure prey, much as a human angler would. This spine ends in a club-like structure, which acts as a bait for the prey.
Deep beneath the ocean’s surface, where sunlight dares not penetrate, thrives a creature of both nightmare and wonder: the anglerfish. This fascinating inhabitant of the abyssal plains and shallow reefs alike has captured human imagination with its unique hunting strategy and bizarre appearance.
Anglerfish are notable for their sexual dimorphism, which is sometimes extremely pronounced; the females may be several orders of magnitude larger in mass than males.
Discover the incredible anglerfish, denizen of the ocean's deep, lightless realms. Learn how these predators attract their victims with bits of luminous flesh.
Anglerfish, any of about 210 species of marine fishes of the order Lophiiformes, named for the foremost spine of the dorsal fin located on the head modified into a “fishing rod” tipped with a fleshy “bait.”
There are more than 200 species of anglerfish distributed throughout the world. But, primarily, they live in the depths of the Atlantic and Antarctic oceans. They are generally small fish, with males rarely growing larger than one foot in length and females sometimes reaching 3.3 feet long.
Anglerfish are group of bony fish which are known for their unique adaptation for catching prey: the first spine of their dorsal fin acts as a fishing rod with an attractive luminescent lure dangling at the end to attract prey.
Anglerfishes (order Lophiiformes) are ray-finned fishes best known for an evolved “fishing rod” (illicium) tipped with a lure (esca) used to attract prey. The group includes deep-sea ceratioids (often the iconic ‘seadevil’ form) as well as shallow-water frogfishes and monkfishes/goosefishes.