Anglerfishes: Lophiiformes - Physical Characteristics, Behavior And Reproduction, Sargassumfish (histrio Histrio): Species Accounts, Monkfish (lophius Americanus): Species Accounts - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET, ANGLERFISHES AND PEOPLE, CONSERVATION S
live angling sport world
Anglerfishes live all over the world.
Most anglerfishes live in the deep ocean. Some live in open water in middle depths. Others are bottom dwellers. A few anglerfishes enter shallows, and many live in coral reefs.
Anglerfishes eat fishes and other animals attracted by the lure. A few anglerfishes feed mainly on bottom-dwelling invertebrates, animals without backbones.
Some anglerfishes are caught for their meat and for the liver.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists one species of anglerfish as Critically Endangered, or facing extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.
Additional Topics
The first spine of the dorsal (DOOR-suhl) fin of anglerfishes serves as a fishing, or angling, rod and lure for attracting prey, animals hunted and caught for food. The dorsal fin is the one along the midline of the back. The fishes use muscles at the base of the rod to move it rapidly, thrashing the lure above or in front of the anglerfish's mouth. In some anglerfishes the lure may be a si…
Anglerfishes ambush their prey. During a typical ambush, the anglerfish remains motionless (either on the bottom or in open water) until it detects prey. When it senses prey, the anglerfish uses its fishing rod to attract the prey to within reach. When the prey reaches the strike zone, the anglerfish opens its mouth rapidly and widely, creating strong suction, which draws in the prey. The entire o…
Physical characteristics: Sargassumfish have a short fishing rod and smooth skin. The fish are usually camouflaged with streaks, spots, and mottling of brown, olive, and yellow, making them nearly impossible to detect in the seaweed in which they hide. Geographic range: Sargassumfish live in the western Atlantic, western Pacific, and Indian oceans. Habitat: Sargassumfish live only in open warm wat…
Physical characteristics: Monkfish have a very large, wide, flattened head and an enormous mouth armed with long, sharp, cone-shaped teeth. Monkfish have hairlike threads hanging in front of their eyes that act as fishing line. The lines have knoblike lures at the end. Monkfish have a large number of dorsal and anal fin rays and vertebrae (ver-teh-BREE), which are the bones that make up the spinal…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments