This fearsome Anglerfish plush toy stuffed animal is made by the Animal Den.
The various kinds of angler fishes are especially interesting, because they are not only fish, but fishermen. Many of them have a spine of the first dorsal fin modified to form a lure and use it to attract prey. Usually, their bodies are stout and clumsy, with a head and mouth that are relatively enormous.
The anglers (family Lophiidae, with perhaps a dozen species) are large, bottom-inhabiting fishes found most frequently in fairly deep water. Some species enter shallow water during the colder parts of the year. Anglers are known from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. The largest species become four or more feet long.
The deep-sea anglers belong to nearly a dozen families. Approximately 120 species are known from the depths of oceans all over the world. Most of them are small, but a few reach lengths of about 3-1/2 feet. Unlike the members of the family Lophiidae, the deep-sea anglers do not habitually lie on the bottom, but do their fishing in mid-water, 1500 to 15000 feet below the surface. Females are equipped with a lure, which be believed to be luminous in all cases - as indeed it would have to be in order to operate effectively in those regions of total darkness. It has been shown in a number of cases that the light is not produced by the fish itself, but by special bacteria living inside the bait.
There is a factastic variety of styles among the fishing apparatus of deep-sea anglers. Some are short, in others the "fishing rod" is as much as three times as long as the total length of the fish. Some are tipped with simple, bulbous lures, others with weirdly branched or shaped ones, often bearing peculiar tentacles or buds.
Deep-sea angler males are very much smaller than females, and they never possess a lure. The reproductive strategy of angerfish is quite unique. The males find females using pheromones and attach themselves to them. Over time they fuse with the female, losing their eyes and internal organs while providing a constant supply of sperm.
This unusual mating behavior ensures the survival of the species in the challenging deep-sea environment. In the north Atlantic, spawning occurs mostly during the summer. After hatching, the young fish live mainly in the upper layer of the ocean feeding on small floating creatures, until they become adult-like in form and sink down into deep water.
Anglerfish are generally ambush predators, with shallow-water species such as frogfish often camouflaging as rocks, sponges or seaweed. To blend in with the featureless dark depths they inhabit, deep-sea anglerfish are dark colored, with tints ranging from grey to brown.
The Anglerfish stuffed animal shown here is made by the Animal Den. Find it at our sponsor's online gift shop.
Class: Actinopterygii | Order: Lophiiformes | Family: Lophiidae Rafinesque
