Skip to main content

Angler

Lophius piscatorius
So today's animal goes by many names -- the Angler, the Sea-devil, the Frog-fish. All of these monikers refer to Lophius piscatorius, a deep sea fish native to the north Atlantic and Mediterranean.

The Angler has a very large head, but a flat body that is absent of scales. As with most Anglerfish species, the females are much much larger than the males-- they can grow over 6ft long, while the males will only grow to a few inches.

These fish live on the sea floor, hiding out near the very bottom and attracting smaller fish to them using a lure. When the prey gets close they suck them in whole. Amazingly, the Angler has a very expandable stomach-- they can consume fish that are nearly as large as they are!

Despite their ugly appearance, Anglers are commercially fished. However, they are listed on the Greenpeace Red List. This is because the trawling method used to fish them up is very damaging to the sea floor. Additionally, these fish have very long lives and mature slowly. Taking large numbers of them is detrimental, as it cane take a very long time for the population to naturally rebound.

IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Atlantic and Mediterranean
Size : Females up to 6.6ft (2m)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii  -- Order : Lophiiformes
Family : Lophiidae -- Genus : Lophius -- Species : L. piscatorius
Image : Meocrisis

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...