The psychedelic frogfish, Histiophryne psychedelica, is named for its psychedelic pink and white stripes arranged in a fingerprint pattern. This species was described in 2009 from three specimens collected off Ambon and Bali, Indonesia.
The psychedelic frogfish moves by walking on its pectoral fins over the seafloor. It can also bounce like a rubber ball, jet-propelling itself by forcing water out of its gill openings.
More about this fish on EOL: http://eol.org/pages/10215240/details
(Image by David Hall)
Showing posts tagged anglerfish
The Future of Deep Sea Exploration
Twenty-four astronauts have been on or near the Moon; 12 of them landed on the Moon and actually walked on its surface. By comparison, three people have been to the deepest part of the ocean: Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in 1960 and James Cameron in 2012. Isn’t it time to do some more ocean exploring?
This July, follow along as 100 of the top ocean explorers gather at Ocean Exploration 2020: A National Forum to shape our nation’s ocean exploration program and a develop strategy for getting there. You will have the opportunity to provide input in defining the future of ocean exploration:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/oceanexploration2020/welcome.html
(About the image: An angler fish lies in wait on young lava flows from Volcano W, an active submarine volcano in the Kermadec Arc, located north of New Zealand. This species was previously unknown to inhabit in New Zealand waters prior to being spotted during an expedition in 2005)
The Monkfish (Lophius piscatorius)
This anglerfish lies half-buried in the mud or sand on the bottom of the sea, attracting fish to its huge mouth by means of its lure. Fish are drawn in by the sudden inrush of water. This method of feeding is a speciality of the various groups of anglerfish worldwide.
Anglerfish spawn between May and June in British waters, and between June and August in the North Atlantic. The eggs, numbering up to a million, are contained in a band of mucus about 10 metres long, released to drift in the open ocean. The larvae, when they hatch, look just as extraordinary as the adult fish. They mature at a length of 40 cm and at an age of four years for males, and a length of 70 cm and an age of six years for females. A fully-grown adult anglerfish may live for 20 years or more.
(read more: Encyclopedia of Life)
(photos: T - Nordsømuseet Hirtshals; ML/B - SERPENT Project; MR - National Museums Northern Ireland)
Montage of some Frogfish (Antennariidae) eating a Turkeyfish (Dendrochirus sp.) and a Cardinalfish (Apogonidae).
I have been informed some of you haven’t yet been educated on the True Facts About the Anglerfish.
Frogfish: The Ocean’s Disguise Artists
Biomimicry is one of evolution’s most mind-blowing avenues of adaptation. It’s one thing to adapt thanks to maxing out the biological limits of speed, or selecting for the ever-longer, better-feeding necks of giraffes or the ability to use a new, untapped food source at the bottom of the ocean. But to become another life form? It shows us that natural selection is not only a powerful force, but also a delicate one, fine-tuning things like colors and patterns like only the finest human artists can.
Above are three examples of frogfish biomimicry, a family of fish that separately mimics algae, sponges and even sea urchins. They evolved these costumes as a way to avoid predators and become better predators themselves. Check out an in-depth post about frogfish biomimicry at Why Evolution is True (wait until you see them eat!), and if you want more here’s a whole website (Comic Sans warning!) dedicated to frogfish camo.
mad-as-a-marine-biologist: Baby Frogfish (family Antennariidae), Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia
(photo by Paul Rudder)
The Redeye Gaper (Chaunax stigmaeus) is a sedentary species of anglerfish native to deep waters in the western North Atlantic from the Georges Bank off New England southward to the Blake Plateau off South Carolina. It is a sedentary ambush predator that spends most of its time resting on the sea floor on its pectoral and pelvic fins, moving only to capture prey or avoid predators.
(pPhoto: Steve Ross, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration) (via: Wikipedia)
Evil-looking Deep Sea Fish
Anglerfish (TL), Viperfish (TR) and Stoplight Loosejaw (B - by Alex Ries), with a truly massive dislocatable jaw, teeth in its throat and “night vision” light organs that illuminate hapless victims unable to see the wavelength they emit.
(via: Deep Sea News)
Deep Sea Mysteries: Whipnose Anglerfish
by Kyra Schlining
After 25 years, you might think we had seen all there is to see here in the deep Pacific Ocean, but today was a good reminder that that is definitely not true! During the first hour of our remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive today, we encountered a very bizarre deep-sea anglerfish from the family Gigantactinidae that we have never filmed before. It had an extremely long lure that was “shaggy” at the tip. Completely amazing!
(read more: MBARI - Bioluminescence and Biodiversity Expedition)
An Anglerfish, Sladenia shaeferi, near a deep sea salt dome in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Photographed by the Little Hercules deep sea Remote Operated Vehicle controlled from NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer vessel.
(via: Deep Sea News)
Fishing in the Deep: Observations of a Deep Sea Anglerfish
This video shows never-before seen footage of a deep-sea angler fish, Chaunacops coloratus. In it, we summarize recent work by scientists at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The video seen here was recorded by MBARI’s ROV Doc Ricketts at depths of 7,800 - 10,800 feet below the ocean’s surface.
(via: MBARI)
Blackdevil fish (Melanocetus johnsonii) are quintessential monsters from the deep. The female lurks in the dark, drawing in prey with her glowing lure, while the male attaches to her like a blood-sucking parasite. Females can swallow prey larger than their own bodies.
(via: Smithsonian’s Ocean Portal) (photo: Edith Widder, ORCA)
