Other Free Encyclopedias :: Animal Life Resource :: Fishes and Other Cold-Blooded Vertebrates

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

SARGASSUMFISH (Histrio histrio): SPECIES ACCOUNTS
MONKFISH (Lophius americanus): SPECIES ACCOUNTS

GEOGRAPHIC RANGE

Anglerfishes live all over the world.

HABITAT

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.

DIET

Anglerfishes eat fishes and other animals attracted by the lure. A few anglerfishes feed mainly on bottom-dwelling invertebrates, animals without backbones.

ANGLERFISHES AND PEOPLE

Some anglerfishes are caught for their meat and for the liver.

WHY IS FISHING CALLED ANGLING?

In the old days in England the word angle meant "fish hook." Angling is the sport of catching fish with a hook, as opposed to a net or one's hands. Anglers are people who like this sport.

THE SARGASSO SEA

The Sargasso Sea is a huge floating island of seaweed (2 million square miles) in a calm area of the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda.

CONSERVATION STATUS

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.