Angler Fish

Interesting Tidbits on the Infamous Angler Fish

The angler fish is probably one of the most interesting specie ever to swim in then world’s ocean depths. Popularly known for its rather hideous appearance that earned its name as the common black devil fish, it is also equally famous for its rather unique way of hunting for preys. In fact, you cannot actually label it as hunting, as it can be more aptly described as a skillful luring with little or no effort at all. How? Smacked right in its head is a fleshy growth called esca that features a lighted tip known as photophore that flashes on and off to act as a bait in order to attract its prey right into its ferocious mouth -definitely a more convenient form of fishing, right? Man has definitely taken a leaf off its book because our regular fishing poles are designed to act just like the angler’s esca.

Species of angler fish can be found all over the world, but all more commonly spotted off the coasts of Europe and Great Britain as well as in the North American waters. Deep sea angel fishes live in the aphotic zones of the ocean, where the water is considered too deep for sunlight to possibly penetrate in order for natural photosynthesis to occur, which basically means it has to live off mainly on predation. Aside from its infamous lure, the angler fish is also designed to be a natural lean, mean eating machine with its overly wide mouth that extends all around its anterior head circumference and its jaws are viciously armed with long and pointed teeth that are slightly inclined inwards that allows its prey to glide right in towards its stomach to effectively prevent any escape from its mouth. Its jaws and stomach have bones that are flexible and thin that can be distended, easily allowing it to swallow even twice as large as its body size.

However, the unconventional and interesting facts on angler fishes simply doesn’t end there, as it is also known to use a rather unique mating method. Since this type of specie have been known to come rare in many regions, finding a mate can pose as a big problem for most angler fishes. When scientists captured samples of the fish, they were rather surprised to find all were females. But later they found out that the ceratoid attached to the female angler fish is actually the male counterpart that lives as its parasite. Having no digestive organ but with a highly developed olfactory appendages that is capable of detecting smell in water, the male fishes are not capable of feeding independently. Thus, they need to find a female angler fish using their sensitive olfactory organs to find a female host of face imminent death. However, as soon as it fuses its body to its host, it does not only conveniently share blood vessels where it feeds itself, it also efficiently fertilizes the female angler fish, every time the latter is ready to spawn.