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Soft Leafvent Angler
Haplophryne mollis (Brauer, 1902)
A female Soft Leafvent Angler trawled during the NORFANZ expedition at a depth between the surface and 1200 m, south of Norfolk Island, May 2003 (AMS I.42708-002). Photo: M. McGrouther © NORFANZ. View larger image.
A preserved Soft Leafvent Angler trawled at a depth of 750 m, off Newcastle, New South Wales, November 1979 (AMS I.21365-008). View larger image.
A male Soft Leafvent Angler attached to a female. These fish were trawled at a depth of 900 m, off Sydney, New South Wales, December 1977 (AMS I.20315-009).View larger image.
The Soft Leafvent Angler is a sexually dimorphic species. Females have rounded, unpigmented bodies. They have several spines on the head and a rounded esca on the snout.
Females grow to around 8 cm in length, but males only grow to about 2 cm.
Mature males are usually seen permanently attached to females. When a free-living male encounters a female, it bites the female and the skin of his mouth eventually fuses with that of the female. The male then becomes parasitic on the female.
Soft Leafvent Anglers occurs in deep tropical and subtropical marine waters of all oceans.
In Australia specimens have been trawled from off central to southern New South Wales and east of Tasmania, but the species is almost certainly more widespread.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Related links
- View the Deepsea fishes list
Further reading
- Bertelsen, E., & Pietsch, T.W. 1983. The Ceratioid Anglerfishes of Australia. Records of the Australian Museum. 35: 77-99.
- Paxton, J.R., D.F. Hoese, G.R. Allen & J.E. Hanley. 1989. Zoological Catalogue of Australia Vol.7. Pisces Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Survey. Pp. i-xii, 1-665.
- Yearsley, G.K., Last, P.R. & D.F. Hoese. 2006. Standared Names of Australian Fishes. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper 009. Pp. 65.
