Student Stuff
Deepsea Anglerfishes
A deepsea anglerfish, Bufoceratias wedli. Photo © N.J. Marshall & Harb. Br. Oceanog. Inst. View larger image.
The 150 some species of deepsea anglerfishes are among the most spectacular of deepsea fishes. With few exceptions, the large females have a fishing rod and lure arrangement of the first dorsal fin elements, similar to those of their shallow water relatives. But the bait of deepsea anglers is luminous, with the light produced by a colony of luminescent bacteria.
The diversity of the group is large, such that 11 different families of deepsea anglerfishes are recognised. Some, like the whipnose anglers, have the rod and lure longer than the fish itself, while others have an additional luminous barbel hanging off the chin. The wolftrap angler even has a lure hanging from the roof of its mouth.
There is a striking difference in the size of the sexes in all the deepsea anglers, with dwarf males less than 5 cm in length and females always much larger; the largest seadevil reaches 1 m in length. In a few families the dwarf males become permanently parasitic on the females, attaining nourishment through the fused skin of the two from the blood of the female.
Further reading
The following sources were consulted in compiling these pages;
- Bertelsen, E & T.W. Pietsch. 1983. The ceratioid anglerfishes of Australia. Records of the Australian Museum. 35(1&2):77-99, figs.1-18.
- Bertlesen, E. & T.W. Pietsch, 1998. Anglerfishes, pp. 137-141. In Paxton, J.R. & W.N. Eschmeyer (Eds). 1998. Encyclopedia of Fishes (ed. 2). San Diego: Academic Press.
The illustration is a copy of plate XV, figure 7 from Brauer, A. 1906. Die Tiefsee-Fische. I. Systematischer Teil. In: C. Chun. Wissenschaftl. Ergebnisse der deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition "Valdivia," 1898-99. Jena. v. 15: 1-432, Pls. 1-18.
