Anglerfish

Anglerfish
Temporal range: Eocene–present
Humpback anglerfish, Melanocetus johnsonii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Clade: Percomorpha
Order: Lophiiformes
Garman, 1899
Type species
Lophius piscatorius
(A) Centrophryne spinulosa, 136 mm SL
(B) Cryptopsaras couesii, 34.5 mm SL
(C) Himantolophus appelii, 124 mm SL
(D) Diceratias trilobus, 86 mm SL
(E) Bufoceratias wedli, 96 mm SL
(F) Bufoceratias shaoi, 101 mm SL
(G) Melanocetus eustalus, 93 mm SL
(H) Lasiognathus amphirhamphus, 157 mm SL
(I) Thaumatichthys binghami, 83 mm SL
(J) Chaenophryne quasiramifera, 157 mm SL.

The anglerfish are fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes (/ˌlɒfiɪˈfɔːrmz/).[1] They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified luminescent fin ray (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure for other fish. The luminescence comes from symbiotic bacteria, which are thought to be acquired from seawater,[2][3] that dwell in and around the sea.

Some anglerfish are notable for extreme sexual dimorphism and sexual symbiosis of the small male with the much larger female, seen in the suborder Ceratioidei, the deep sea anglerfish. In these species, males may be several orders of magnitude smaller than females.[4]

Anglerfish occur worldwide. Some are pelagic (dwelling away from the sea floor), while others are benthic (dwelling close to the sea floor). Some live in the deep sea (such as the Ceratiidae), while others live on the continental shelf, such as the frogfishes and the Lophiidae (monkfish or goosefish). Pelagic forms are most often laterally compressed, whereas the benthic forms are often extremely dorsoventrally compressed (depressed), often with large upward-pointing mouths.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Order Lophiiformes". FishBase. February 2006 version.
  2. ^ Freed, Lindsay L.; Easson, Cole; Baker, Lydia J.; Fenolio, Danté; Sutton, Tracey T.; Khan, Yasmin; Blackwelder, Patricia; Hendry, Tory A.; Lopez, Jose V. (1 October 2019). "Characterization of the microbiome and bioluminescent symbionts across life stages of Ceratioid Anglerfishes of the Gulf of Mexico". FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 95 (10): fiz146. doi:10.1093/femsec/fiz146. ISSN 0168-6496. PMC 6778416. PMID 31504465.
  3. ^ Baker, Lydia J.; Freed, Lindsay L.; Easson, Cole G.; Lopez, Jose V.; Fenolio, Danté; Sutton, Tracey T.; Nyholm, Spencer V.; Hendry, Tory A. (1 October 2019). "Diverse deep-sea anglerfishes share a genetically reduced luminous symbiont that is acquired from the environment". eLife. 8: e47606. doi:10.7554/eLife.47606. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 6773444. PMID 31571583.
  4. ^ Pietsch, Theodore W. (25 August 2005). "Dimorphism, parasitism, and sex revisited: modes of reproduction among deep-sea ceratioid anglerfishes (Teleostei: Lophiiformes)". Ichthyological Research. 52 (3): 207–236. Bibcode:2005IchtR..52..207P. doi:10.1007/s10228-005-0286-2. S2CID 24768783.