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Painted Anglerfish
Antennarius pictus (Shaw & Nodder, 1794)

A 27 mm long juvenile Painted Anglerfish at a depth of 12 m, Bare Island, Sydney, New South Wales, July 2006. Photo © Jason Coombs. Thank you to T. Pietsch for confirming the identification of the fish. View larger image.

Above and below: A Painted Anglerfish at a depth of 12 m, Kurnell, Sydney, New South Wales, January 2001. View larger image. View another image image of this fish.

View larger image.

A Painted Anglerfish at "Spot A", Forster, New South Wales.

The Painted Anglerfish's colouration can vary from red, orange and yellow to green, brown or black. It sometimes has saddle-like markings dorsally. The pectoral fins often have white tips, and the tail commonly has three spots.

It grows to 16 cm in length.

The species lives in estuaries and bays, often associated with sponges.

The Painted Anglerfish occurs in marine waters throughout much of the tropical and temperate Indo-Pacific.

In Australia it is known from the central coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country and south to the New South Wales central coast.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

Related links

• Glover's Anglerfish fact sheet
• Prickly Anglerfish fact sheet
• Sargassum Anglerfish fact sheet
• Striped Anglerfish fact sheet
• Tasselled Anglerfish fact sheet
• Whitespotted Anglerfish fact sheet

Further reading

1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
2. Allen, G.R. & R. Swainston. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 201.
3. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
4. Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
5. Pietsch, T.W. & D.B. Grobecker. 1987. Frogfishes of the World. Systematics, Zoogeography, and Behavioural Ecology. Stanford University Press. Pp. 420.
6. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.