It has an extremely unattractive appearance. According to one version, this is why it was named that way. It lives at the bottom, hiding in the sand or between rocks. It feeds on fish and various crustaceans, which it catches using its dorsal fin as a fishing rod with bait dangling in front of its mouth.
Description
Monkfish belongs to the order of anglerfish, the ray-finned family. It is also known as the European anglerfish. It grows up to 1.5 - 2 m in size and can weigh up to 20 kg or more. In catches it is usually found up to 1 m long and weighing up to 10 kg. The body is flattened, disproportionate, the head occupies up to two-thirds of its length. The color of the upper part is spotted, brown with a greenish or reddish tint. The belly is white.
The mouth is wide, with sharp, large teeth curved inward. The skin is bare, without scales. The eyes are small, vision and sense of smell are poorly developed. The monkfish fish has leathery folds around its mouth that constantly move, like algae, which allows it to hide and camouflage itself in benthic vegetation.
The anterior dorsal fin plays a special role in females. It consists of six rays, three of which are isolated and grow separately. The first of them is directed forward and forms a kind of fishing rod hanging down to the mouth. It has a base, a thin part - “fishing line”, and a leathery luminous bait.
Habitat and species
Monkfish is found in fishermen's catches in many seas. The European anglerfish is common in the Atlantic. Here it lives at depths ranging from 20 to 500 m or more. It can be found in the seas along the coast of Europe, in the waters of the Barents and North Seas.
The Far Eastern variety of monkfish lives off the coast of Japan and Korea. Found in the Okhotsk, Yellow, and South China Seas. Usually inhabits depths from 40-50 to 200 m. The American anglerfish in the northern part of the Atlantic lives at shallow depths, and in the southern regions it is more often found in the coastal zone. It can be found at depths of up to 600 m with a wide range of water temperatures (0 - 20 °C).
Juveniles hatched from eggs differ in appearance from adults. At the beginning of life, they feed on plankton, live for several months in the upper layers of water, and upon reaching a length of 7 cm, they change appearance, sink to the bottom, and become predators. Intensive growth continues during the first year of life.
Not long ago, related species of monkfish were discovered in the depths of the ocean. They were called deep-sea anglers. They can withstand enormous water pressure. They live at depths of up to 2000 m.
Nutrition
Monkfish spend a lot of time in ambush. It lies motionless at the bottom, buried in the sand or camouflaged among stones and aquatic vegetation. The “hunt” can take him 10 hours or more. At this time, he actively plays with bait in order to attract a curious victim. The leathery bulb surprisingly accurately copies the movements of a fry or shrimp.
When an interested fish is nearby, the monkfish opens its mouth and sucks in the water along with the victim. This takes only a few milliseconds, so there is practically no chance of escaping from sharp teeth. In special cases, the anglerfish can jump forward, pushing off with its fins, or use the reactivity of a stream of water released through its narrow gill slits.
Most often, the diet of monkfish is dominated by stingrays, eels, gobies, flounders and other bottom fish. He also does not disdain shrimps and crabs. During intense zhora after spawning, it can rise to the upper layers of water and, despite poor eyesight and sense of smell, attack mackerel and herring. Cases of monkfish preying on waterfowl have been reported. It can be dangerous for a person at such moments.
Monkfish: reproduction
Male and female anglerfish are so different in appearance and size that until some time experts classified them into different classes. The breeding of monkfish is as special as its appearance and hunting method.
The male anglerfish is several times smaller in size than the female. To fertilize the eggs, he needs to find his chosen one and not lose sight of her. To do this, males simply bite into the female’s body. The structure of the teeth does not allow them to free themselves, and they do not want to.
Over time, the female and male grow together, forming a single organism with a common body. Some of the “husband’s” organs and systems atrophy. He no longer needs eyes, fins, or a stomach. Nutrients are supplied through the blood vessels from the “wife’s” body. The male only has to fertilize the eggs at the right moment.
They are usually spawned by the female in the spring. The fertility of the anglerfish is quite high. On average, a female lays up to 1 million eggs. This occurs at depth and looks like a long (up to 10 m) and wide (up to 0.5 m) ribbon. The female can carry several “husbands” on her body so that they fertilize a large number of eggs at the right time.
Monkfish (see photo above) is not able to compare the feeling of hunger with the size of its prey. There is evidence of an angler catching a fish larger than itself, but being unable to release it due to the structure of its teeth. It happens that a monkfish catches a waterfowl and choke on its feathers, which leads to its death.
Only females have a “fishing rod”. Each species of these fish has a unique bait that is unique to them. It differs not only in shape. Bacteria living in the mucus of the leathery bulb emit light of a certain range. For this they need oxygen.
The anglerfish can adjust the glow. After eating, it temporarily compresses the blood vessels leading to the bait, and thereby reduces the flow of oxygen-enriched blood there. The bacteria stop glowing and the flashlight goes out. There is no need for it temporarily, and the light can attract a larger predator.
Monkfish, although disgusting in appearance, the meat is tasty, and in some regions it is considered a delicacy. The courage and gluttony of this predator give divers and scuba divers cause for concern. It is better to stay away from a hungry anglerfish, especially a large one.
Fried medallions and tender pate, aromatic fillet with cheese sauce and sweet soup - these and many other monkfish delicacies are offered to visitors of expensive European and Asian restaurants. Light, with pinkish veins, low-calorie meat has decent taste.
Behind the strange name “monkfish” lies a most interesting representative of the class of ray-finned fish (order of anglerfish). The inhabitant of the oceanic and sea depths received its name for its rather terrible appearance, cunning and incredible gluttony.
Description
The order of anglerfish consists of 11 families known to science, including about 120 species of fish. Monkfish fish is one of the largest predators. The catches usually contain individuals up to 1 meter long and weighing up to 10 kg, but there are also two-meter giants weighing up to 40 kg.
The entire order of anglerfish has a disproportionate body: the narrow rear part is flattened laterally, and the wider front part (including the head) is flattened in the dorsoventral direction.
A wide mouth with a slightly protruded lower jaw can open almost the entire circumference of the huge head, which is up to 2/3 of the length of the fish
The structure of the upper and lower jaws (in particular, flexible bones and a movable upper jaw) allow the monkfish to swallow prey that is significantly larger than itself.
The unsightly picture is complemented by sharp teeth of varying lengths curved inward.
The unique dorsal fin deserves special attention. It is divided into two independent parts. The back is not of scientific interest: it is soft, located near the tail, its rays are connected by a membrane.
The anterior part of the fin consists of six spiny rays. One of them is at the top of the head, just above the jaw.
The beam (scientifically called illicium or trapping outgrowth) is directed forward and looks like a kind of fishing rod
Thanks to its catching growth, the monkfish has another name - the anglerfish. In some species, the illicium can be retracted into a special hole on the back. The fish lures food with its own flashlight. It is called “esca”, located at the end of the illicium and is a leathery growth.
In fact, an esca is a mucus-filled gland that is inhabited by living microorganisms. Bacteria exhibit bioluminescence, requiring the presence of oxygen. During the hunt, the angler fish expands the walls of the arteries, providing a flow of oxygen to the gland.
The bacteria glow, creating a series of sequential flashes that attract potential prey
Having sated, the anglerfish narrows the walls of the blood vessels, and the glow stops.
For this feature monkfish is sometimes called lanternfish.
Another nickname for the anglerfish is associated with fins - frogfish.
Powerful muscular pectoral fins, reinforced by skeletal bones, allow the monkfish to move along the bottom like an amphibian: by special jumps or crawling, alternately rearranging the fins
Interesting fact! Nature has endowed only the female monkfish with a fishing rod and flashlight.
Sexual dimorphism and reproductive characteristics
Anatomical differences are manifested not only in the absence of an illicium with an esca in males, that is, the main devices for obtaining food. Dimorphism is, first of all, expressed by a significant difference in the growth of males and females. If the average length of females, depending on the species, varies from 0.5 to 1.5 meters, then male anglerfish have a height of 16 mm to 4 cm.
Scientists have long puzzled over why only female specimens of the mysterious fish end up in fishermen’s nets. The males were even credited with some semblance of intelligence, allowing them to avoid captivity.
Gradually, the male fuses with the female with his tongue and lips, and a little later with blood vessels. He loses vital organs (teeth, intestines, eyes) and becomes an appendage of the female, feeding on her blood.
In the photograph, the arrow indicates a male attached to a female. The picture gives an idea of the dimorphism of individuals of different sexes.
Being almost completely dissolved in the female, the male fertilizes the eggs at the right moment
The only function that the male retains is the ability to produce sperm. For this reason, a female often carries up to 4 males.
Females are very fertile. In the spring and summer, they lay up to 3 million eggs. Spawning occurs at a depth of at least 900 m. The eggs are connected into a ribbon-like clutch up to 12 meters long. The mucus-covered ribbon floats freely until the cell walls begin to disintegrate. The hatched larvae live in the surface layer of the reservoir for 2–3 weeks, feeding on pelagic eggs, copepods, and fry of other fish. Only after reaching a length of 8 cm, the juvenile angler fish descends to depth.
Range of the most common species
Observing monkfish is difficult due to the great depths of its habitat. Of the 120 species included in the order Anglerfishes, five are the most studied:
- European monkfish: distributed in the Black, Baltic, Barents, North Seas, in the European part of the Atlantic Ocean, and the English Channel. It lives at depths from 18 to 550 meters, where it grows up to 2 meters;
- black-bellied monkfish(other names: boudegassa anglerfish, southern European anglerfish): differs from its European counterpart in its more modest size: 0.5–1 meter. The species' distribution zone is the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean from Great Britain to Senegal (habitat depth 300–650 m). The fish can be found in the Mediterranean and Black Seas at a kilometer depth;
- American monkfish: lives in the waters of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean at depths of up to 670 meters. The maximum length of the American anglerfish is 1.2 meters, weight is about 23 kg;
- Far Eastern monkfish(yellow or Japanese anglerfish): a one and a half meter monster has chosen the waters of the Japanese, Yellow, and Okhotsk seas. Less common in the Pacific Ocean around Japan. Feels comfortable at a depth of 50 meters to 2 kilometers;
- Burmese monkfish(Cape anglerfish): lives in the western Indian and southeastern Atlantic oceans at depths of up to 400 meters. The size of the largest individual does not exceed 1 meter.
All species are of commercial importance. If previously monkfish were caught as bycatch, now valuable fish are purposefully caught using nets. Amateurs catch anglerfish with bottom gear using live bait.
How and who does monkfish hunt?
There are small, close-set eyes on the head of the anglerfish, but the deep-sea fish cannot boast of visual acuity. However, she does not need to chase prey. Monkfish prefers to ambush near the bottom.
Natural camouflage contributes to successful hunting.
The constantly moving long leathery folds around the monkfish's mouth mislead gullible fish. They mistake them for algae
The fish has no scales. Her body is covered with plaques, spines, tubercles and similar growths. The bare skin is colored in accordance with the general background of the bottom of the habitat. Usually these colors are brown, black, dark gray; in some species there are light spots randomly scattered throughout the body.
Interesting fact! While waiting for prey, the monkfish is capable of remaining motionless for a long time and even holding its breath. Pauses between breaths can be up to 2 minutes.
As soon as the inhabitants of the reservoir, attracted by the glow, come close to the mouth, the angler sharply opens its huge mouth and, along with the flow of water, draws in the prey. The victim does not have time to offer resistance: the entire process lasts no more than 6 milliseconds.
The diet of the monkfish consists of various crustaceans, as well as: flounder, eel, stingray, and sometimes small sharks. During the feeding season, the anglerfish may leave its usual depth. Then his prey becomes cod, mackerel, and herring.
There are known cases of fish attacking waterfowl. True, such gluttony costs the life of the angler himself: he dies from feathers stuck in his mouth
The terrifying appearance of the monkfish has given rise to many superstitions and legends. It is widely believed that the anglerfish attacks swimmers. The statement is only partly true. During the period of zhora, the fish rises to the surface of the reservoir and can actually bite a person. The rest of the time, the monkfish prefers to stay at depths beyond the reach of divers.
In the UK, since 2007, there has been a ban on the sale of monkfish meat in supermarkets. This is how environmentalists try to preserve unique fish.
Sea devils are a group of angler fish. They live at great depths, can withstand enormous pressure and have an extremely unattractive appearance.
But you knew, for example, how anglerfish reproduce. In order for eggs to be fertilized, two different fish - a male and a female monkfish - must fuse into one organism.
When a male anglerfish finds a suitable mate, it digs into the female’s stomach and tightly attaches itself to her. Over time, the two fish merge into a single creature with common skin, common blood vessels, etc. At the same time, some organs of the male atrophy - eyes, fins, etc.
It was precisely because sea devils live most of their lives in the form of such a monster creature that scientists at first could not find male anglerfish in nature - they only came across females. It turned out that the males (or rather, what was left of them) were “hiding” inside.
Let's find out more about this fish...
Are there many people in Russia who can boast that they ate the devil? Apparently, there are no such people at all. And this pleasure is quite accessible to the average European. The fact is that angler although disgusting in appearance, it is a tasty fish. It also lives off our coasts, including in the Barents and even the Black Sea, but here no one specifically catches it.
Angler, or European anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius), is a large fish up to one and a half meters long, two-thirds of which is on the head, and weighs up to 20 kilograms. The mouth is outrageously large and lined with a palisade of sharp teeth. The bare skin with a fringe of leathery lobes gives the fish an extremely disgusting appearance. On the head there is a fishing rod - the first ray of the dorsal fin moved forward, from which hangs an appetizing “bait” - a small leathery bulb. All day long the devil lies motionless on the bottom and patiently waits for some fish to be tempted by his bait. Then, without hesitation, it opens its mouth and swallows the prey.
European angler belongs to the family of angler fish. They live at a depth of 50-200 meters and are considered quite common inhabitants of coastal waters. Only recently has it become known that their close relatives live in the depths of the ocean. They were called deep-sea anglers. About 120 species are now known. These amazing creatures are small or very small fish. Females range in length from 5-10 to 20-40 centimeters, only the ciracy grows up to a meter, and males are dwarfs measuring 14-22 millimeters.
Only females have a fishing rod. Often this gear is clearly divided into a rod, a fishing line and a luminous bait suspended at its end. For each type of angler, the bait has a shape and size unique to these fish and emits light rays of a strictly defined color. The bait is a bag filled with mucus in which glowing bacteria live. In order to emit light, bacteria need oxygen. When the anglerfish has had lunch and is busy digesting food, it no longer needs light. It can attract the attention of a large predator to the anglerfish. Then the devil squeezes the blood vessels of the fishing line and temporarily extinguishes his flashlight.
The rod, located above the fish's head, is directed upward and forward, and the bait dangles near the mouth. This is where gullible game is lured. Gigantaxis have a rod with a fishing line that is 4 times longer than the fish itself. This allows you to cast the bait far and, teasing the prey, lure it to its mouth, which is always ready to open. Each type of bait attracts a very specific game. This is confirmed by the fact that in the stomachs of some anglers there are constantly found fish that are rarely caught in deep-sea trawls and are considered very rare.
Everything about deep-sea anglerfish is unusual, especially reproduction. Males and females are so different from each other that they were previously considered different species of fish. When the male becomes an adult, he goes in search of a female. Suitors have large eyes and an impressive olfactory organ to help locate the female. For a tiny fish, finding a bride is a difficult task. Nobody knows how much time they spend on this. It is not surprising that, having found a bride, the male immediately sinks his teeth into her.
Soon the male’s lips and tongue grow onto his wife’s body, and she takes her husband as her full dependent. Through the vessels grown into his body, the female supplies him with everything he needs. The male no longer needs the jaws, intestines and eyes, and they atrophy. In the male’s body, only the heart and gills continue to work, helping to supply oxygen to his body, and even the testes. During breeding, the female spawns eggs, and the male regularly waters them with milk.
Spawning takes place at great depths, but the eggs are lighter than water and float to its surface. Here they hatch into larvae. They feed intensely, grow quickly and gradually drown until they return to their homeland in their favorite depths.
Some species of deep-sea anglerfish are considered edible. They are caught in the USA, Africa and East Asia. Particularly popular in North America is meat from the tail of the anglerfish, which is called Monkfish or Goosefish. It tastes like lobster meat. In Japan and Korea, goose fish liver is a delicacy.
White, dense, boneless and extremely tender meat of this fish can do honor to any holiday table. It is suitable for frying in pieces and opened in the shape of a butterfly, or for grilling, cut into cubes and placed on skewers, as well as for boiling and stewing. Monkfish is especially popular in France, where the meat from its tail is prepared in many ways, for example with boiled vegetables, and the head, if you can get it, is used for soup.
Why is monkfish called "tail fish"
The fishermen quickly deal with the monster's head. All that remains of the fish is practically only an edible tail, which goes on sale without the skin. Therefore, monkfish is often called the “tail” fish, whose white, dense, boneless and extremely tender meat can do honor to any holiday table. Being a master of camouflage, the monkfish, with its dark, often spotted, upper body, is almost invisible against the background of the bottom of small coastal reservoirs, among stones, pebbles and fucus. There he usually likes to lie, watching for prey. On both sides of the head, along the edges of the jaw and lips, fringed patches of skin hang down, moving in the water like algae. On the sides of the body there are wide fins, and on the back there are thin spines with a spherical thickening at the end, which lure prey. This sea monster can reach 2 m and weigh 30-40 kg. Smaller specimens usually go on sale. But even a monkfish of this size can swallow quite large fish. They say that in the belly of one monkfish, 65 cm long, a young cod, 58 cm long, was found. Monkfish is found in many seas, mainly in the Atlantic and the North Sea, up to Iceland.
The monkfish is also called a “frog” because it can jump
Sometimes during a hunt, the monkfish moves in a very unusual way: it jumps along the bottom, pushing off with its pectoral fins. For this they called him “frog”.
In one species of monkfish, the “fishing rod” is retracted into a special channel on the back. The fish regulates the glow of the bubble by narrowing or expanding the walls of the arteries. And in the bottom-dwelling Galatetauma, the “fishing rod” is generally located in the mouth. Another species uses glowing teeth as bait.
To hunt, the angler just needs to swim or rest quietly on the sand, from time to time opening his mouth and swallowing an overly curious fish. She has no chance to escape: the monkfish’s mouth sucks in water along with everything that swims nearby: mollusks, crustaceans, sometimes even stingrays and sharks. A very hungry anglerfish can catch a waterfowl. However, in this case, he often chokes on the feathers and dies.
The monkfish does not know how to compare the size of its prey with the feeling of hunger. Ichthyologists have more than once observed cases where a predator caught and bit a large fish, much larger than itself, but could not let go due to the structural features of the teeth.
Anglerfish breed as unusually as they hunt. Males do not have “fishing rods” at all, and they themselves are very tiny. While females often reach two meters in length, males rarely exceed 5 millimeters. Each female carries several males: they dig into her, grow together and gradually turn into genitals.
Hungry sea devils are dangerous for scuba divers. They have very poor eyesight, which is compensated by their courage and gluttony, so it is better to stay as far away from a hungry anglerfish as possible.
However, where does such a big name come from? According to one version, this fish received it for its, to put it mildly, extravagant appearance, even against the generally bright and diverse background of the inhabitants of the depths of the sea. A flat body, a huge ugly head with a huge mouth, in some species making up two-thirds of the total length, crowned with a palisade of sharp teeth, evokes a feeling of horror. These teeth are capable of turning prey into a mess of torn tissue and bones.
In general, the monkfish is incredibly voracious and therefore boldly rushes even at a seemingly obviously unattainable goal. And in “hungry” moments, a large anglerfish, suffering from an almost complete lack of vision, rises to the upper layers of water from the depths and at such moments it is capable of attacking scuba divers.
You can meet such an inhabitant of the deep sea just at the end of summer, after a grueling hungry spawning, the “devils” go to shallow water, where they eat intensively until the fall, after which they go to wintering in greater depths.
However, compared to sharks, barracudas and octopuses, true sea devils or anglerfish do not pose an immediate danger to humans. Be that as it may, their terrible teeth can disfigure the hand of an unwary fisherman for life. However, the monkfish causes much more damage not to humans, but to other commercial fish species. Thus, there are legends among fishermen that, having fallen into a fishing net, he ate the fish that got there while he was there.
One of the most interesting inhabitants of the deep sea is the angler fish. Its repulsive appearance, unusual way of hunting and relationships with the opposite sex significantly distinguish it from other marine inhabitants. The habitat of fish at great depths did not immediately make its study possible. Currently, ceratiform or deep-sea anglerfish include a dozen families and more than a hundred known species.
These fish live deep at the bottom
Appearance and varieties
According to one version, the fish's inconspicuous and intimidating appearance, as well as its habitat, gave the fish its nickname, deep-sea monkfish. Some individuals can reach a length of up to two meters. The fish has a disproportionate spherical body, the head occupies more than half of the body. The color helps it camouflage perfectly. Anglerfish are dark brown and black, but their bellies are usually white.
The monkfish's mouth is huge, decorated with a row of sharp, inwardly curved teeth. There may be moving leathery folds around the mouth, which also help the fish to successfully hide in the algae at the bottom and wait for prey.
The fish has no scales, but in some species the bare skin is covered with scales transformed into spines. The anglerfish has very poor vision and sense of smell, and its eyes are very small. A fish raised to the surface looks completely different from what it does at its usual depth. A bloated body and bulging eyes are a consequence of excess internal pressure.
There are 11 families of monkfish
Anglerfish can be divided into 11 families:
- Caulofrines;
- Centrifrines;
- Ceratiaceae;
- Diceratiaceae;
- Long probe;
- Hymantolophaceae;
- Linofrine;
- Melanocetes;
- Novoceratiaceae;
- Oneiridae;
- Thaumatichthaceae.
Another characteristic feature of this species is the rod (illicium). In fact, this is an overgrown dorsal fin, namely the first ray. The species Ceratias holboelli can hide the illicium by drawing it inside the body, while in Galatheathauma axeli it is located directly in the mouth.
In most species, the fishing rod is directed forward and hangs directly towards the mouth, luring in prey. At the end of the illicium there is an esca or bait. The eska is a leather pouch - it is a gland filled with mucus with bioluminescent bacteria, due to which the bait glows. Usually the glow is a series of flashes. Fish can cause and stop glowing, controlling the process by expanding and constricting blood vessels, since the iron needs blood flow, and bioluminescent bacteria need oxygen.
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism refers to differences in anatomy between females and males of the same species. This is especially pronounced in angler fish. For a long time, scientists could not understand what a male angler fish looked like, because they classified males and females as two different species.
Distinctive feature - there is illusion
The sizes of females vary from 5 cm to 2 meters, and their weight reaches 57 kilograms. These predatory fish have a wide mouth and a highly stretchable stomach. They prey on other deep-sea fish. Compared to them, males are simply dwarfs, because they reach a length of no more than 4 cm.
Another difference is the presence of illicium. Only females of this fish have a fishing rod. The deep-sea anglerfish also holds other surprises. Unlike females, males have developed eyes and senses of smell, which they need to find a female.
Habitat and food
The deep-sea anglerfish lives in the waters of the World Ocean. The fish is adapted to live at depths of up to 3 kilometers. The anglerfish is especially common in the Atlantic Ocean, from the coast of Iceland to the Sea of Guinea, preferring cool waters.
Females hunt other deep-sea fish - gonostomidae, chauliodae, melamphae, and also feed on crustaceans and sometimes cephalopods.
The hunting process is as follows. The anglerfish lies on the bottom, hidden in the mud and algae. He turns on the glow of the eski and twitches it so that it looks like the movement of a small fish. To catch prey, the female patiently waits for it to swim to her. It pulls small prey into itself, sucking it in along with the water. It takes a few milliseconds to swallow a curious fish. Sometimes, using its developed pectoral fins or releasing jets of water through its gills, the anglerfish can jump forward, attacking prey.
The anglerfish is an extremely voracious fish; it can attack prey that is three times its size. Although the fish's stomach stretches to impressive sizes, such a meal ends in death for the fish. Since her teeth are curved inward, she cannot spit out her prey and gags.
Monkfish hunting methods are quite extraordinary
There have been cases where a species related to the anglerfish, monkfish, has swallowed seabirds with the same outcome. As a rule, the monkfish floats to the top when it eats intensively after spawning. At such moments, he can attack a person.
- Caulofrines;
- Linofrine;
- Ceratiaceae;
- Novoceratiaceae.
Possessing good eyesight and sense of smell, males detect the female by emitted pheromones, which persist for a long time in the still water column. To determine whether a female belongs to their species, males visually evaluate the shape of the fishing rod and the frequency of flashes, which varies among all species. Having made sure that the female is of the same species, the male swims up to her and tightly clings to her side with his teeth.
Having attached itself to the female, the male anglerfish loses its independence. After some time, it fuses with the female’s tongue and lips. Its organs atrophy, in particular, the eyes, teeth, jaws, olfactory organs, fins, and stomach. He becomes one with the female, feeding himself through a system of common blood vessels.
Males find a female easily with the help of pheromones
Reproduction
Like most species, the deep-sea anglerfish breeds in the spring and summer, although no seasonal changes occur at greater depths. The ribbon of caviar can reach 10 meters. Millions of fertilized eggs rise to the upper layers of water, to a depth of no more than 30 – 200 meters. There the larvae hatch and for some time are eaten by crustaceans and bristlejaws, accumulating strength before the upcoming metamorphosis.
Larvae of deep-sea anglerfish thrive in warm waters. They can be found in tropical and warm temperate ocean zones where surface water temperatures can reach 20 degrees.
By the time metamorphosis occurs, the fry descend to a depth of 1 km. Sexually mature anglers descend to their usual depth of habitat - 1500 – 3000 meters. Currents can carry anglerfish even into subarctic and subantarctic waters.
Eating
The European anglerfish or monkfish is a commercial fish species and is even considered a delicacy. Monkfish is caught in especially large quantities in Great Britain and France, but in general it is caught all over the world - in America, Africa, and East Asia.
The fish gained its popularity due to its dense, boneless meat, although quite tough. The tail part of the anglerfish is eaten, and soup is made from the head. The tail is prepared in many ways. Monkfish dishes are especially appreciated in France.
In this video you will learn more about this fish:
Anglerfish, or sea devils (Lophius) are very striking representatives of the genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family of anglerfish and the order of anglerfish. Typical bottom inhabitants are found, as a rule, on a muddy or sandy bottom, sometimes half-burrowing into it. Some individuals settle among algae or between large rock fragments.
Description of monkfish
On two sides of the monkfish’s head, as well as along the edges of the jaws and lips, hangs fringed skin that moves in the water and resembles algae in appearance. Thanks to this structural feature, anglerfish become inconspicuous against the background of the ground.
Appearance
The European anglerfish has a body length of within a couple of meters, but more often - no more than one and a half meters. The maximum weight of an adult is 55.5-57.7 kg. The aquatic inhabitant has a naked body, covered with numerous leathery growths and clearly visible bony tubercles. The body is flattened, compressed towards the back and belly. The eyes of the monkfish are small, widely spaced. The dorsal area is brownish, greenish-brown or reddish in color with dark spots.
The American anglerfish has a body no more than 90-120 cm long, with an average weight of 22.5-22.6 kg. The black-bellied anglerfish is a deep-sea fish reaching a length of 50-100 cm. The body length of the Western Atlantic anglerfish does not exceed 60 cm. The Burmese monkfish, or Cape anglerfish, is characterized by a flattened head of enormous size and a fairly short tail, which occupies less than a third of the total body length. The size of an adult does not exceed a meter.
This is interesting! The devil is a unique fish in appearance and lifestyle, capable of moving along the bottom with peculiar jumps, which are carried out due to the presence of a strong pectoral fin.
The total body length of the Far Eastern anglerfish is one and a half meters. The aquatic inhabitant has a large and wide flat head. The mouth is very large, with a protruding lower jaw, on which there are one or two rows of teeth. The skin of the monkfish is devoid of scales. The pelvic fins are located in the throat area. Wide pectoral fins are distinguished by the presence of a fleshy blade. The first three rays of the dorsal fin are separate from each other. The upper part of the body is brown in color, with light spots surrounded by a dark border. The lower part of the body is characterized by a light color.
Character and lifestyle
According to many scientists, the very first anglerfish or monkfish appeared on our planet more than a hundred million years ago. However, despite such a respectable age, the characteristic behavioral features and lifestyle of the monkfish are not very well studied at the moment.
This is interesting! One of the anglerfish's hunting methods is to jump using its fins and then swallow the caught prey.
Such a large predatory fish practically does not attack humans, which is due to the significant depth at which the anglerfish settles. When rising from the depths after spawning, too hungry fish can harm scuba divers. During this period, the monkfish may well bite a person on the hand.
How long do anglerfish live?
The longest recorded lifespan of the American anglerfish is thirty years. The black-bellied anglerfish lives in natural conditions for about twenty years. The lifespan of the Cape monkfish rarely exceeds ten years.
Species of monkfish
The genus Anglerfish includes several species, represented by:
- American anglerfish, or American monkfish (Lophius americanus);
- Black-bellied anglerfish, or southern European anglerfish, or budegassa anglerfish (Lophius budegassa);
- Western Atlantic anglerfish (Lophius gastrophysus);
- Far Eastern monkfish or Far Eastern anglerfish (Lophius litulon);
- European anglerfish, or European monkfish (Lophius piscatorius).
Also known are the South African anglerfish (Lophius vaillanti), the Burmese or Cape anglerfish (Lophius vomerinus) and the extinct Lophius braсhysomus Agassiz.
Range, habitats
The black-bellied anglerfish has become widespread in the eastern Atlantic, from Senegal to the British Isles, as well as in the waters of the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Representatives of the species Western Atlantic anglerfish are found in the western Atlantic Ocean, where such an anglerfish is a bottom-dwelling fish that lives at a depth of 40-700 m.
The American sea devil is an oceanic demersal (bottom-dwelling) fish that lives in the waters of the northwest Atlantic, at a depth of no more than 650-670 m. The species has become widespread along the North American Atlantic coast. In the north of its range, the American anglerfish lives at shallow depths, and in the southern part, representatives of this genus are sometimes found in coastal waters.
The European anglerfish is common in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of Europe, from the Barents Sea and Iceland to the Gulf of Guinea, as well as the Black, North and Baltic seas. The Far Eastern anglerfish belongs to the inhabitants of the Sea of Japan, settling along the coastline of Korea, in the waters of Peter the Great Bay, and also near the island of Honshu. Part of the population is found in the waters of the Okhotsk and Yellow Seas, along the Pacific coast of Japan, in the waters of the East China and South China Seas.
Anglerfish diet
Ambush predators spend a significant part of their time waiting for their prey absolutely motionless, hiding on the bottom and almost completely merging with it. The diet consists mainly of a wide variety of fish and cephalopods, including squid and cuttlefish. Occasionally, sea devil eats all kinds of carrion.
By the nature of their feeding, all sea devils are typical predators. The basis of their diet is represented by fish that live in the bottom water column. The stomach contents of anglerfish include gerbils, small stingrays and cod, eels and small sharks, as well as flounder. Closer to the surface, adult aquatic predators are able to hunt mackerel and herring. There are well-known cases of anglerfish attacking not too large birds that peacefully sway on the waves.
This is interesting! When the mouth opens, a so-called vacuum is formed, in which a stream of water with the prey quickly rushes into the oral cavity of the sea predator.
Thanks to the pronounced natural camouflage, the monkfish, lying motionless on the bottom, is almost invisible. For the purpose of camouflage, the aquatic predator burrows into the ground or hides in dense thickets of algae. Potential prey is attracted by a special luminous bait, located by monkfish at the end of a kind of fishing rod, represented by an elongated ray of the dorsal front fin. At the moment when crustaceans, invertebrates or fish touch the eski, the lurking sea devil very sharply opens its mouth.
Reproduction and offspring
Individuals of different species become fully sexually mature at different ages. For example, male European anglerfish reach sexual maturity at the age of six years (with a total body length of 50 cm). Females mature only at the age of fourteen, when individuals reach almost a meter in length. European anglerfish spawn at different times. All northern populations living near the British Isles typically spawn between March and May. All southern populations inhabiting the waters near the Iberian Peninsula spawn from January to June.
During the period of active spawning, males and females of the genus of ray-finned fish, belonging to the family of anglerfish and the order of anglerfish, descend to a depth of forty meters to two kilometers. Having descended into the deepest water, the female angler fish begins to spawn, and the males cover it with their milk. Immediately after spawning, hungry, sexually mature females and adult males swim to shallow water areas, where they intensively feed until the onset of the autumn period. Preparation of monkfish for wintering is carried out at a fairly large depth.
The eggs laid by sea fish form a kind of ribbon, abundantly covered with mucous secretions. Depending on the species characteristics of the representatives of the genus, the total width of such a tape varies between 50-90 cm, with a length of eight to twelve meters and a thickness of 4-6 mm. Such ribbons are able to drift unhindered across the expanses of sea water. A peculiar clutch, as a rule, consists of a couple of million eggs, which are separated from each other and have a single-layer arrangement inside special mucous hexagonal cells.
Over time, the walls of the cells gradually collapse, and thanks to the fat drops inside the eggs, they are prevented from settling to the bottom and freely floating in the water. The difference between hatched larvae and adult individuals is the absence of a flattened body and large pectoral fins.
A characteristic feature of the dorsal fin and pelvic fins is represented by highly elongated anterior rays. Hatched anglerfish larvae remain in the surface layers of water for a couple of weeks. The diet consists of small crustaceans that are carried by water currents, as well as the larvae of other fish and pelagic caviar.
This is interesting! In representatives of the European monkfish species, the caviar is large and its diameter can be 2-4 mm. The eggs laid by the American anglerfish are smaller in size, and their diameter does not exceed 1.5-1.8 mm.
In the process of growth and development, monkfish larvae undergo peculiar metamorphoses, which consist in a gradual change in body shape to the appearance of adults. After the anglerfish fry reach a length of 6.0-8.0 mm, they descend to a considerable depth. Sufficiently grown young individuals actively settle in the middle depths, and in some cases the juveniles move closer to the coastline. During the very first year of life, the rate of growth processes in monkfish is as fast as possible, and then the process of development of the marine inhabitant noticeably slows down.
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