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Prickly Anglerfish
Echinophryne crassispina McCulloch & Waite, 1918
Above and below: A male Prickly Anglerfish guarding his eggs, Edithburgh, South Australia. Photo © J. Lewis. View larger image.
Eggs of a Prickly Anglerfish at Edithburgh, South Australia. The tail of the male is visible in the upper left of the image. Photo © J. Lewis. View larger image.
The Prickly Anglerfish has a short, deep body that is covered with tiny bifircate spines. The eyes are surrounded by a ring of close-set dermal spinules. The dorsal fin is comprised of four parts, a short illicium two separate skin-covered spines and a long-based soft-rayed fin that is separate from the caudal fin.
Colouration of the species is variable, but may be reddish, brown, pinkish or yellowish.
It grows to about 7 cm in length.
This species is endemic to Australia, occurring from Tasmania, Victoria and eastern South Australia.
It is a benthic species that is found on inshore rocky reefs down to depths of about 20 m. It is not commonly seen because it lives under rocks and ledges.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
The Prickly Anglerfish has also been called the Prickly Frogfish and Thick-spined Anglerfish.
The species was described in 1918 by Australian Museum curators McCulloch and Waite.
Related links
- View the Anglerfishes list
- View the Family Antennariidae list
Further reading
- Pietsch, T.W. in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
- McCulloch, A.R. & Waite, E.R. 1918. Some new and little known fishes from South Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum. 1(1): 39-78.
