Female Angler Fish

Getting to Know Female Angler Fish

While you may have heard tales about the famous angler fish, you probably want a little more about this highly unique deep-sea fish that is often referred to as the black devil fish. Typically, angler fishes live several miles deep down the ocean’s bottom where natural light cannot possibly penetrate. The female angler fish is one of the more popular specie as it is often used as a great example with its exceptionally cunning predatory skills. With its infamous antennae on its head that it’s used as a bait to attract possible prey, It is able to survive the inhospitable world of the deep. The bacteria that infest at the tip of the bait of the female angler fish are responsible for the bioluminescence, often regarded as the cold light display. It is the result of the oxidation of the compound called Luciferin along with the help of certain enzymes that scientists have referred to as Luciferase.

The fertilized eggs of the female angler fish floats up in the water towards the surface and form a jelly-like mass and eventually hatch. Both the young male and female angler fishes then soon grows and mature on the surface of the water but at a certain point of their development, the male needs to find a female angler as host through biting and latching on to her abdomen. Since males don’t have digestive tubes and could not possibly live independently, they rely their nourishment through sharing bloodstreams with the female and the male slowly degenerates as the female tissues grows around the male fish and finally make its descend towards the bottom of the ocean where it will spend its lifetime with the male parasite.

While other fishes have swim bladder, which is an air sac that helps prevent sinking and provide buoyancy, the female angler fish would not have lived long enough to truly enough to what it is today.  Its body has also developed to prevent crushing considering the significant amount of pressure it exerts at one mile deep. In view of such facts, it is quite astonishing how animals have adapted to its environment for survival.

Today, there are over 200 angler fish species recorded although scientists claim that they are hoping to discover more on their future deep sea forages. Despite its unsightly and unappealing look, the angler fish is definitely one of highly interesting creatures ever to roam the ocean.

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