Angler Fish (teleost order Lophiiformes)

The Angler Fish is a member of the teleost order Lophiiformes. These are skinny fishes named for their distinctive style of predation, in which a fleshy growth from the head of the fish functions as a lure. The Angler Fish is also prominent for great sexual dimorphism observed in the suborder Ceratioidei, and sexual parasitism of male Angler Fish.

Appearance

These fishes boast huge heads and vast crescent-shaped mouths crammed with sharp, transparent teeth. A few Angler Fish can be quite big, with the length of 3.3 feet. However, the majority of these fishes considerably smaller, habitually less than a foot.

Features

There are in excess of 200 types of Angler Fish, most of which survive in the murky depths of the Antarctic and Atlantic oceans, equal to a mile below the earth’s surface, even though some subsist in low, tropical settings.

The Angler Fish transpires all over the world. Some fishes are pelagic, whereas others are benthic. Some fishes subsist in the deep sea, whereas some others live on the continental shelf. Pelagic fishes are most laterally dense, whereas the benthic ones are habitually very dorsoventrally solid, habitually with a big upward-pointing mouth.

The Angler Fish comes in dark gray to dark brown in color. The most distinctive feature of these fishes is worn by female fishes only, is a part of dorsal spine that projects above their mouths similar to a fishing pole. Tipped with the temptation of glowing flesh, this incorporated rod lures the prey close enough to be grabbed. The mouth of these fishes is so large and their bodies so flexible, they can, in fact, swallow prey equal to twice their individual size.

Temperament

The annoyed-looking deep sea anglerfishes are bad-tempered. They are considered the ugliest animal on the earth, and they are considered the most unfriendly habitat of the earth. They always live lonely in the lightless bottom of the sea.

When a juvenile, free-swimming male angler fish encounters a female fish, he latches onto the female fish with his pointed teeth. In due course, the male fish fuses with the female physically, connecting to her bloodstream and skin and losing his eyes and all his interior organs, but the testes. A female fish will carry more than six males on her body.