Fish with a lamp. European angler fish: description and types of monkfish. Where does the monkfish live

The anglerfish or anglerfish, as it is also called, is a predator, sea bottom fish, which belongs to the class of bony fish.

Monk fish - quite large predatory fish, which lives at the bottom and can reach a length of about two meters.

European angler fish monkfish: description and structure

Angler is a predatory sea ​​fish that lives at the bottom of the sea. It has a fairly large physique and can reach a length of about two meters.

So, the weight of one lantern fish can reach about twenty kilograms. At the same time, the torso and huge head are rather strongly thickened in the horizontal direction. Thus, all types of anglers have a wide mouth, which is several times larger than their head.

In the features of the structure, it is worth noting a few characteristic features:

European anglerfish habitat

The European anglerfish is quite common in the oceans and along various coasts. Lanternfish can be found in the Atlantic Ocean. It can live off the coast of Canada and the United States of America. Various varieties sea ​​devils found off the coast of Japan and Korea.

At the same time, you can find sea devils in the waters of the Okhotsk and yellow seas, as well as in the Eastern Pacific and the Black Sea.

Monkfish can also be found deep in the Indian Ocean, which spans the end of Africa. Depending on the habitat, fish can live on different depth. It can be eighteen meters and up to two kilometers.

Monkfish nutrition

The monkfish is a predatory fish. Her diet consists of other fish. that live in the water column. Various small fish, such as gerbil or cod, can get into her stomach. And also she can eat small stingrays, sharks and eels. In addition, it can be various crustaceans, mollusks.

Quite often, predators rise closer to the surface of the water, where they can hunt mackerel or herring. Wherein there have been cases when fish attacked birds that landed on sea waves.

Each angler fish hunts from an ambush, having a natural camouflage - it can be overlooked in thickets and algae. Thus, it lies at the bottom of the ocean, buried in the ground and hiding in algae. A potential victim grabs the bait, which is located at the angler at the end of his rod. Thus, the European angler opens its mouth and swallows its prey. In exactly six milliseconds, the prey enters the mouth of the predator. Monk fish hunts, being in ambush for a long time. He can lurk and hold his breath for several minutes.

Types of European anglers

To date, several varieties of European anglerfish are known. Let's consider each of them.

1. . It is a predatory fish with a body length of up to one meter. The body weight of the fish can reach up to twenty-two kilograms. At the same time, it has a rounded head, which tapers towards the tail. Outwardly, it may resemble a tadpole. The lower jaw is pushed forward - with the closed mouth of the predator, you can see the lower teeth. At the same time, the upper and lower jaws are dotted with sharp and thin teeth. They can be tilted deep into the mouth and reach a length of two centimeters. Almost all mandibles of monkfish have big size and arranged in three rows. At the same time, the upper jaw has large teeth that grow only towards the center, and the lateral sections are slightly smaller than the main size. The gills of this fish do not have covers and are located immediately behind the pectoral fins. The eyes of the fish are directed upwards. In addition, the first ray of the fish has a leathery growth that glows due to the settled bacteria. In this case, the cover of the skin of the back and sides can be of various shades, including a variety of spots. This species of fish lives up to thirty years. You can meet her in the depths Atlantic Ocean. It can live at depths up to six hundred and seventy meters.
2. European anglerfish- This the most common type which reaches a length of up to two meters. The weight of the fish can exceed twenty kilograms. The body of the anglerfish is flattened from the back to the belly. Its dimensions can be up to 75% of the total length of the fish. A distinctive feature of this fish is its a huge mouth that looks like a crescent moon. Thus, it has several hook-like teeth and a jaw that, like the first variant, is pushed forward. The gill openings of the European anglerfish are located behind the wide pectoral fins, which allow them to move along the bottom and burrow into it in anticipation of the victim. The body of the fish is devoid of scales and has a variety of bone spikes and skin growths of various lengths and shapes. The hind fins are located opposite the anal. All anglers have six beams. The color of this fish varies depending on its habitat. As a rule, there are dark spots on the back and sides that turn brown, red and green color. The European devil lives exclusively in the Atlantic Ocean. Quite often you can meet anglerfish at a depth of 18 to 550 meters in the Black Sea.
3. Black-bellied anglers quite close to their European relatives. They are small in size and have a relatively broad head. The length of the fish can be from half a meter to one meter. The structure of the jaw apparatus will not differ in any way from individuals of another species. At the same time, the monkfish has a characteristic abdominal part, and its back and sides will be painted pink, grey colour. Depending on where he lives, his body may have some dark and light spots. The lifespan of a fish can be over twenty-one years. This anglerfish is widely distributed in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. In Great Britain, Ireland, it lives at depths up to 650 meters. At the same time, it can be found at a depth of up to one kilometer in the waters of the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
4. - This is a typical predatory fish that lives in the Japan, Okhotsk, Yellow and East China Seas. In some cases it can be found in pacific ocean. It can burrow at a depth of fifty meters to two kilometers. In this case, an individual can grow from one and a half meters in length. Like other representatives, he has a long tail and recurved teeth on the lower jaw. He also has a yellow body, which is covered with various growths and tubercles, which are painted in a single color. Brown color. The spots will be light in color with a characteristic dark stroke. Unlike the back and sides, they are slightly lighter. The back has characteristic light ends.
5. It has a characteristic flattened head and a short tail. This tail of the fish occupies more than a third of the length of the entire body. At the same time, adult individuals of the lantern fish do not reach a length of more than one meter. Their life expectancy is about eleven years. The angler lives at a depth of up to four hundred meters in the waters of the Atlantic. Quite often it can be found in the western Indian Ocean and the coast of Namibia. In addition, they can live in the waters of Mozambique, South Africa. The body of the Burmese monkfish is slightly flattened towards the belly and covered with fringe and leathery growths. At the same time, at the top of the beam of the fish of the lantern there is a fin with its back. Outwardly, it resembles a patch. Gill slits are located behind the pectoral fins slightly below their level. The lower part of the fish is completely white and light.

Each type of lantern fish has its own structural features, as well as its range.

Angler- This is the most extravagant-looking member of the Angler class squad He lives at an impressive depth, thanks to his unique ability to withstand enormous pressure. We invite you to get to know this deep sea dweller, which has amazing taste, and learn about it some Interesting Facts.

Appearance

Let's get acquainted with the description of the monkfish - a marine fish that prefers deep crevices where sunlight never gets. The European anglerfish is a large fish, the body length reaches one and a half meters, about 70% falls on the head, the average weight is about 20 kg. Distinctive features the fish are:

• A huge mouth with a lot of small but sharp teeth gives it a repulsive look. The fangs are located in the jaw in a special way: at an angle, which makes the capture of prey even more effective.
• Naked and scaleless head skin with fringes, tubercles and spikes also does not adorn the deep-sea dweller.
• On the head is the so-called fishing rod - continued dorsal fin, at the end of which is a leathery bait. This feature of the monkfish determines its second name - the anglerfish, despite the fact that the fishing rod is present exclusively in females.
• The bait consists of mucus and is a leathery bag that emits light due to the luminous bacteria living in the mucus. Interestingly, each type of anglerfish emits light of a certain color.
• The upper jaw is more mobile than the lower one, and due to the flexibility of the bones, the fish are able to swallow prey of impressive size.
• Small close-set round eyes are located on the top of the head.
• The color of the fish is inconspicuous: from dark gray to dark brown, which helps anglers to successfully disguise themselves on the bottom and deftly grab prey.

It is interesting how the fish hunts: it hides, putting out its bait. As soon as some careless little fish becomes interested, the devil will open his mouth and swallow it.

Habitat

Find out where the anglerfish (monkfish) lives. The habitat depends on the species. So, European anglers prefer to live at a depth of up to 200 meters, but their deep-sea counterparts, of which more than a hundred varieties have been discovered, have chosen depressions and crevices for themselves, where there is very high pressure and there is no pressure at all. sunlight. They can be found at a depth of 1.5 to 5 km in the seas of the Atlantic Ocean.

Anglerfish are also found in the so-called Southern (Antarctic) Ocean, which combines the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans washing the shores of the white continent - Antarctica. The monkfish also lives in the waters of the Baltic and Barents, Okhotsk and off the coast of Korea and Japan, some species are found in the Black Sea.

Varieties

Sea devils are fish from the Anglerfish squad. Currently, eight species are known, one of them is extinct. Representatives of each of them have a characteristic awesome appearance.

• American angler. It belongs to the bottom varieties, the body length is impressive - adult females are often more than a meter. In appearance, they resemble tadpoles because of the huge head. The average life expectancy is up to 30 years.
• South European anglerfish or black-bellied. The body length is about a meter, the name of the species is associated with the color of the peritoneum, the back and sides of the fish are pinkish-gray. The average life expectancy is about 20 years.
• The West Atlantic anglerfish is a demersal fish reaching a length of 60 cm. An object of fishing.
• Cape (Burmese). The most noticeable part of his body is a giant flattened head, and a short tail is also characteristic.
• Japanese (yellow, Far East). They have an unusual body color - brown-yellow, live in the Japan, East China Seas.
• South African. Lives off the southern coast of Africa.
• European. A very large anglerfish, whose body length reaches 2 meters, is distinguished by a huge crescent-shaped mouth, small sharp teeth resemble hooks in their shape. Rod length - up to 50 cm.

Thus, all types of anglers have common characteristics - a huge mouth with a large number small but sharp teeth, a fishing rod with bait - the most unusual way hunting among the inhabitants of the underwater depths, bare skin. In general, the look of the fish is really frightening, so the loud name is fully justified.

Lifestyle

Scientists believe that the first anglers appeared on the planet more than 120 million years ago. The shape of the body and the specifics of the lifestyle are largely due to where the angler prefers to live. If then it is practically flat, if the angler has settled closer to the surface, then it has a body compressed from the sides. But regardless of the habitat, the monkfish (angler fish) is a predator.

The devil is a unique fish, it moves along the bottom not like its other counterparts, but with jumps made thanks to a strong pectoral fin. From this, another name for a marine inhabitant is a frog fish.

Fish prefer not to expend energy, therefore, even swimming, they spend no more than 2% of their energy reserve. They are distinguished by enviable patience, they are able to not move for a long time, waiting for prey, they practically do not even breathe - the pause between breaths is about 100 seconds.

Nutrition

Previously, it was considered how monkfish hunt prey, attracting it with a luminous bait. It is interesting that the fish does not perceive the size of its prey, often large individuals larger than the angler itself come across in its mouth, so it cannot eat them. And because of the specifics of the device, the jaw cannot even let go.

The angler is famous for its incredible gluttony and courage, so it can even attack scuba divers. Of course, deaths from such an attack are unlikely, but the sharp teeth of a sea angler can disfigure the body of a careless person.

Favorite food

As previously mentioned, anglers are predators, preferring to use other deep-sea inhabitants of the seas as food. Monkfish's favorite treats include:

• Cod.
• Flounder.
• Skates are small.
• Acne.
• Cuttlefish.
• Squids.
• Crustaceans.

Sometimes mackerel or herring become victims of predators, this happens if a hungry anglerfish rises closer to the surface.

reproduction

Monk fish (angler) is amazing in almost everything. For example, the process of reproduction is very unusual for both marine life and wildlife in general. When the partners find each other, the male clings to the belly of his chosen one and tightly adheres to her, the fish seem to become a single organism. Gradually, the process goes even further - the fish have a common skin, blood vessels, and certain organs of the male - fins and eyes - atrophy as unnecessary. It is because of this feature that researchers for a long time it was not possible to find the male anglerfish and describe it.

In males, only the gills, heart and genitals continue to function.

Having become acquainted with the description of the monkfish and the peculiarities of his lifestyle, we offer you to find out some interesting facts about this creepy fish:

Such is the monkfish - an unusual creation of nature, an inhabitant of the depths and an amazing predator using a trick that is not typical for other representatives of the fauna. Thanks to its tasty white meat, almost devoid of bones, the anglerfish is a fish of commercial importance.

The depths of the ocean hide a large number of unusual creatures. They have a frightening appearance, unusual behavior. A fish with a flashlight on its head is called a monkfish. She has a very repulsive appearance, which does not prevent her from eating meat of this species. In European and Asian countries, this fish is considered a delicacy. She received such recognition for her high taste qualities.

The monkfish has a very repulsive appearance, but is still used in cooking.

general characteristics

There is one more the name of a fish with a flashlight on its head is an anglerfish. This is a predator that belongs to the order of anglerfish and to the class of bony fish. Lives at the bottom of the sea. It reaches two meters in length. Average weight- 20 kg. Large individuals with a weight of 57 kg are also known.

The body is flattened, compressed in the ventral direction. The size of the mouth is several times larger than the head.

The jaw of the anglerfish is inactive, the mouth is several times larger than the head

Distinctive feature Monkfish is a slightly protruding lower jaw. She is immobile. The mouth is decorated with sharp teeth, which are slightly bent inward. The jaws have flexible and thin bones that allow the anglerfish to swallow big fish. Small eyes are located at the top of the head.

A separate process grows from the dorsal fin. It is shifted to the upper jaw and is a rod. On it is a leathery formation - it serves as bait and is a bag of mucus in which luminous bacteria live. The anglerfish can extinguish the light for a while so as not to attract the attention of large predators.

The habitat of deep-sea flashlight fish is diverse. It can be found in countries such as:

• Canada;
• Japan;
• Korea.

Some representatives of the species are found in the waters of the Black and Yellow Seas. It can live at different depths.

The main representatives of the species

Ichthyologists distinguish several varieties of anglerfish. In addition to the American monkfish, the European anglerfish is distinguished. His body is flattened from back to belly. It grows up to two meters, its weight exceeds 20 kg. It has a huge crescent-shaped mouth. Powerful pectoral fins let him burrow into the sand. Most often, individuals of a brown color are found. Lives only in the Atlantic Ocean.

Black-bellied anglers are similar to their closest relatives. They have a wide head and small body sizes (the length of an individual is 50 cm). characteristic feature is the wide abdominal part. Painted in gray or beige colors. There is no rod on the head.

The Burmese monkfish is distinguished by its flattened head and short tail. The length of an individual does not exceed one meter. The body is covered with a leathery fringe. The lower part of the body is white, the upper is dark.

The terrible appearance of anglers gave rise to a lot of superstitions. Many people are sure that monkfish attack swimmers. During the period of hunger, fish rise to the top layer of water and can bite a person. At other times, the angler lives at the bottom and does not collide with drivers.

Due to high palatability monkfish meat has become popular, so ecologists have proposed a ban on fishing to preserve the species. In the UK since 2007 it has been illegal to harvest anglerfish.

Nutrition Features

A fish with a flashlight on its head is a predator. Therefore, its main food is other marine inhabitants. The monkfish rises to the upper layer of water, where herring and mackerel become its prey. Ichthyologists have noted a case when an angler attacked birds that landed on the water.

The angler is a predatory fish that feeds on other types of fish.

Basic diet:

• cod or gerbil;
• slopes;
• sharks;
• acne;
• crustaceans;
• shellfish.

A fish with a lantern on its head is an ideal hunter. She is able to sit in ambush for hours. Natural coloring allows you to merge with the ground or plants. Monkfish exposes his rod and waits for the victim. As soon as the fish grab the bait, they immediately swallow it. A feature of the anglerfish is the ability to hold its breath for several minutes.

Anglerfish breeding

Representatives of this species are distinguished by special reproduction. Females and males are very different from each other and ichthyologists have long considered them to be different fish. When the male reaches the age of puberty, he goes in search of a life partner. In this he is helped by a large olfactory organ and huge eyes.

Ichthyologists do not know how long the search takes. As soon as the female is found, the male bites into her jaws. His tongue and lips completely grow into the body of the bride. She takes him completely dependent and supplies him through ingrown vessels nutrients. In the male, the intestines, jaws and eyes atrophy. The gills and heart work in his body - they supply the body with oxygen.

For a long time, female and male anglerfish were considered representatives different types

During spawning, the female lays eggs, and the male inseminates her milk. This happens in winter and spring. Caviar comes out in the form of a strip. Its length can reach 9 meters. Young fish move to a bottom lifestyle with a body length of 6 cm. Before that, they live in top layer water and food small crustaceans and little ones. It is noteworthy that females can carry up to four males at the same time.

Perhaps there are very few people who would not know about the existence of this mysterious and frightening species of marine life called "monkfish". But many people think it is fabulous creature, just an idea.

Actually it is not. In the photo fish "monkfish" in all its splendor. It really exists, but at great depths and in the darkness of the sea, probably because of its ugly appearance, which is why it has such a name, the scientists tried their best.

However, under this name, there is already an inhabitant of the water expanses, this is a mollusk. It will be discussed another time. Today our hero is a representative of ray-finned fish from the anglerfish order.

Appearance features

When you look at the monkfish, the presence of an outgrowth on the head with a luminous tip in front of the ugly mouth, the so-called "fishing rod" for their uniform similarity, immediately catches your eye.

With it, the angler lures the victim and catches it. Hence the common name - anglerfish.

Monk fish in length reaches up to 2 meters and weighs approximately 20 kg. The body shape of the anglerfish is slightly flattened. As a matter of fact, in appearance he is far from handsome and looks, to put it mildly, creepy.

His body is covered with ugly skin growths resembling driftwood and algae. His head is too large in relation to his body and unpleasant, as well as mouth opening. The skin is scaleless, dark mottled brown with a green or red tint, slightly lighter on the abdomen, closer to white.

A wide mouth with sharp, huge inward-pointing teeth and perioral folds that constantly move for camouflage. The eyes are small, the visual ability is underdeveloped, as is the function of smell. Here is such a handsome monkfish.

Native home of the anglerfish

Motherland of European and american style anglerfish - the Atlantic Ocean. However, it was noticeable off the European coast, and off the Icelandic, and even in the Baltic, Black, North and Barents Seas.

The Far Eastern species of the angler fish has taken root well off the Japanese and Korean coasts, in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Yellow Sea, and the South China Sea.

Living conditions and character of the anglerfish in its native environment

reside sea ​​devils in underwater depths from 50 to 200 m, closer to the very bottom, his native element, where he can lie in complete tranquility on a sandy or muddy bed, or among stones.

But do not think that he lies idle. This is the way he hunts for prey. The angler lies motionless and waits. And at the moment when the prey swims nearby, he instantly pounces on it and absorbs it.

And it happens that with the help of fins, he starts chasing the victim with jumps and successfully overtakes her. Anglers are predatory fish.

Anglerfish nutrition

Basically, the diet of sea devil fish is made up of smaller fish: katrans, atherins, Kalkans, stingrays, etc. Lured by the angler's light, small fish fall straight into his mouth.

Do not disdain monkfish and crustacean molluscs. During a period of special zhora, it can replenish its menu with herring or mackerel and even waterfowl.

Features of procreation

Male anglers are much smaller in size. To fertilize eggs, they need to find a girlfriend and not miss her, so they literally bite into her forever.

After some time, they grow into each other, forming a single whole, as a result of which part of the male's organs dies. Useful substances are transmitted through the blood from the female.

The angler-husband needs only certain moment fertilize the eggs.

In the sexually mature period, in order to continue the genus, female anglerfish descend to depths of almost 2000 m to lay eggs. A female anglerfish can lay a clutch of about 3 million eggs, which is a wide ribbon of about 10 m with cells in the form of hexagons (honeycombs).

After some time, these so-called honeycombs are destroyed. As a result, the eggs are free and are carried in all directions by currents.

After a few days, tiny larvae are born from the eggs, and after 4 months they are already fry. Fry 6 cm long independently sink to the bottom of shallow water.

Anglers and people

Man hunting is not an angler's life, it's not his style. But, a person can really get a wound if he pricks on a monkfish thorn.

However, to the most annoying visitors, he can show his sharp teeth in practice, famously grabbing the curious.

in America and some European countries in the restaurant business, anglerfish meat is used as a delicacy that tastes like lobster. In Asian countries, monkfish are used in culinary business. Because of this, there is a real hunt for such a creepy-looking fish.

Curious Facts

Anglerfish, when hungry, are able to catch prey large sizes, than usual. And because of the structure of the teeth, they cannot release it back, as a result, they may even die.

Anglerfish, or sea devils (Lophius) - very prominent representatives genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the anglerfish family and the anglerfish order. Typical benthic inhabitants are found, as a rule, on a muddy or sandy bottom, sometimes semiburrowing into it. Some individuals settle among algae or between large rock fragments.

Description of the monkfish

On both sides of the angler's head, as well as along the edge of the jaws and lips, fringed skin hangs down, moving in the water and resembling algae in appearance. Due to this feature of the structure, anglers become hardly noticeable against the background of the ground.

Appearance

The European angler has a body length within a couple of meters, but more often - no more than one and a half meters.. Weight Limit adult is 55.5-57.7 kg. The aquatic inhabitant has a naked body, covered with numerous leathery growths and clearly visible bone tubercles. The torso is of a flattened type, compressed in the direction of 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 angler has a body length of no more than 90-120 cm, with an average weight in the range of 22.5-22.6 kg. The black-bellied anglerfish is a marine deep sea fish, reaching a length of 50-100 cm. The body length of the West Atlantic anglerfish does not exceed 60 cm. The Burmese anglerfish, or Cape anglerfish, is characterized by a huge flattened head and a rather short tail, which occupies less than a third of the total body length. The size of an adult individual does not exceed a meter.

This is interesting! The devil is a fish unique 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. Mouth very large, protruding forward lower jaw on which one or two rows of teeth are located. The skin of the monkfish is devoid of scales. The ventral fins are located in the throat area. Wide pectoral fins are distinguished by the presence of a fleshy lobe. The first three rays of the dorsal fin are isolated 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 sea anglers or sea devils appeared on our planet more than a hundred million years ago. However, despite such a venerable age, characteristics behavior and lifestyle of anglerfish on this moment not well studied.

This is interesting! One of the anglerfish's ways of hunting is to make jumps with the help of fins and then swallow the caught prey.

Such a large predatory fish practically does not attack a person, which is due to the considerable depth at which the anglerfish settles. When rising from a depth after spawning, too hungry fish can harm scuba divers. During this period, the monkfish may well bite a person by the hand.

How long do anglers live

The longest recorded lifespan of the American anglerfish is thirty years.. The black-bellied angler lives in natural conditions for about twenty years. The life expectancy of the Cape monkfish rarely exceeds ten years.

Types of sea devils

The genus Anglerfish includes several species represented by:

• American anglerfish, or American monkfish (Lophius americanus);
• Black-bellied anglerfish, or South European anglerfish, or Budegassa anglerfish (Lophius budegassa);
• West Atlantic anglerfish (Lophius gastrophysus);
• Far Eastern monkfish or Far Eastern anglerfish (Lophius litulon);
• European anglerfish, or European anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius).

Also known species are the South African anglerfish (Lophius vaillanti), the Burmese or Cape anglerfish (Lophius vomerinus) and the extinct Lorhius brachysomus Agassiz.

Range, habitats

The black-bellied angler has spread throughout the eastern Atlantic, from Senegal to the British Isles, as well as in the waters of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Representatives of the species West Atlantic anglerfish are found in the west of the Atlantic Ocean, where such an anglerfish is a bottom fish that lives at a depth of 40-700 m.

The American monkfish is an oceanic demersal (bottom) fish that lives in the waters of the northwest Atlantic, at a depth of no more than 650-670 m. The species has spread along the North American Atlantic coast. In the north of its range, the American angler lives at shallow depths, and in the southern part, representatives of this genus are sometimes found in coastal waters.

The European anglerfish is distributed in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of Europe, from Barents Sea and Iceland to the Gulf of Guinea, as well as the Black, Northern and Baltic Seas. The Far Eastern anglerfish belongs to the inhabitants of the Sea of ​​Japan, settles near coastline Korea, in the waters of the Gulf of Peter the Great, as well as near the island of Honshu. Part of the population is found in the waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Yellow Sea, along the Pacific coast of Japan, in the waters of the East China and South China Seas.

angler diet

Ambush predators spend most of their time waiting for their prey absolutely motionless, hiding on the bottom and almost completely merging with it. The diet is represented mainly by the most various kinds fish and cephalopods, including squid and cuttlefish. Occasionally, the angler eats all kinds of carrion.

By the nature of their food, all sea devils are typical predators.. The basis of their diet is represented by fish that live in the bottom water column. In the stomach contents of anglerfish there are gerbils, small rays and cod, eels and small sharks, as well as flounder. Closer to the surface, adult aquatic predators are able to hunt mackerel and herring. Cases are well known when anglers attacked not too large birds that sway peacefully on the waves.

This is interesting! When the mouth is opened, a so-called vacuum is formed, in which the flow of water with the victim quickly rushes into oral cavity sea ​​predator.

Thanks to the pronounced natural camouflage, the monkfish lying motionless on the bottom is almost invisible. For the purpose of disguise, an aquatic predator burrows into the ground or lurks in dense thickets of algae. Potential prey is attracted by a special luminous lure located at the end part of a kind of fishing rod, represented by an elongated ray of the dorsal front fin. At the moment of close proximity of crustaceans, invertebrates or fish touching the esca, the lurking monkfish very sharply opens its mouth.

Reproduction and offspring

Individuals of various species become fully sexually mature in different ages. For example, male European anglerfish reach puberty at the age of six years (with a total body length of 50 cm). The maturation of females occurs only at the age of fourteen, when individuals reach almost a meter in length. European anglerfish spawn in different time. For all northern populations living near the British Isles, spawning is typical between March and May. All southern populations that inhabit the waters near the Iberian Peninsula spawn from January to June.

During the period of active spawning, males and females of representatives of the genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the anglerfish family and the anglerfish order descend to a depth of forty meters to two kilometers. Having descended into the deepest water, the female anglerfish begins to spawn, and the males cover it with their milk. Immediately after spawning, hungry mature females and adult males swim out to areas of shallow water, where they feed intensively before the onset of autumn period. Preparation of monkfish for wintering is carried out at a fairly large depth.

Eggs laid by marine fish form a kind of ribbon, richly 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 tapes are able to drift freely through the watery sea. 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 slimy hexagonal cells.

Over time, the walls of the cells are gradually destroyed, and thanks to the fatty drops inside the eggs, they are prevented from settling to the bottom and floating freely in the water. The difference between the born larvae and adults is the absence of a flattened body and large pectoral fins.

A characteristic feature of the dorsal fin and ventral fins is represented by strongly elongated anterior rays. The hatched anglerfish larvae stay in the surface layers of water for a couple of weeks. The diet is represented by small crustaceans, which are carried by water currents, as well as larvae of other fish and pelagic eggs.

This is interesting! Representatives of the species European monkfish have large caviar and its diameter can be 2-4 mm. The caviar that the American angler throws is smaller, and its 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 appearance 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, 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 development process marine life noticeably slows down.