Broad, William J. “The Creepy Anglerfish Comes to Light. (Just Don’t Get Too Close.).” The New York Times, 29 July 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/science/anglerfish-bioluminescence-deep-sea.html.

The Anglerfish

Lophius piscatorius

 

Before I began research on the Anglerfish, I knew of this species due to its appearance in our childhood favorite, award-winning movie, Finding Nemo. The scene introduced its unique appearance, habitat, as well as its diet. As a kid, I was astonished to learn that there was a huge fish living in the bottom of the deep sea with a light bulb attached to the top of its head! In the scene that the anglerfish appeared in the movie, it was trying to eat Marlin and Dory, which I immediately learned that this fish was a carnivore. According to my research, the anglerfish resides in the darkened depths of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans above a little over a mile over the seafloor. They are known to dwell around sandy, muddy bottoms, however, some are known to inhabit rocky bottoms as well. As an adult, these fish range from about 35-60 cm long. They mainly feed on fish as prey and periodically, sea-birds. Researchers have also observed that the female species tend to have a longer life-span and are typically larger than their male counterparts. The female anglerfish will become mature at the age of 14, while the male will mature at the age of 6. The anglerfish female will reproduce with only one mate a season and they undergo external fertilization. Their spawning seasons occur during the periods of November-May, January-June, and May-June. My favorite fact that I have learned about the anglerfish is that as a result of its huge mouth, they have the ability to eat and swallow prey that’s twice their size!

 

 

 

Caruso, J.H., 1986. Lophiidae. p. 1362-1363. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Volume 3. Unesco, Paris. (Ref. 4712)

Froese, R., D. Pauly. 2018. “FishBase” (On-line). Lophius piscatorius. Accessed October 23, 2018 at www.fishbase.org/summary/716.

Laurenson, C., I. Hudson, D. Jones, I. Priede. 2004. Deep water observations of Lophius piscatorius in the north‐eastern Atlantic Ocean by means of a remotely operated vehicle. Journal of Fish Biology, 65/4: 947-960.