Sea Creatures 101: Anglerfish: Hooked For Life

The next time you hear someone tell someone else, "I can't live without you," think about the male Deep Sea Anglerfish. Without a female anglerfish, they die. Really. Before we get to that, let's find out a little about the Deep Sea Angler and why it is so unique.

This fish is primarily found in the Atlantic and Antarctic oceans, down around 1,640-10,000 feet below the surface. It has a small body, a large head and a mouth almost as wide as the head, small eyes, and pectoral fins that are limb-like and strong enough to hold the fish upright. Female Deep Sea Anglers have a dorsal fin that hangs down over the head. The tip of this spine is fleshy and has a luminescent glow. Deep in the ocean, where there is little light, fish can easily see this "bait". That's how the anglerfish catches dinner. It sits very still and wiggles its "lure". A fish grabs the "lure", and the anglerfish uses its sharp teeth to grab the fish. Dinner is served.

An anglerfish can swallow prey larger than itself. Deep Sea Anglers can get up to four feet long, but most are smaller. Flatfish, dogfish, rays, and even conger eels can become a meal. Some types of anglers have been reported to leave the seabed and attack seabirds on the surface. Because the anglerfish has an elastic stomach (technically called a distensible stomach), it can make room for large-sized meals.

Only the female Deep Sea Angler can hunt and get food. A male Deep Sea Angler only grows to two-and-a-half inches long and has no way to attract food. When a male is mature, it will swim to a female and grip her with his teeth. The male will begin to degenerate. His eyes will grow smaller and he will eventually lose them. He becomes fused with her through her bloodstream, and will never leave her. She feeds him, and he releases sperm to her to spawn. He literally cannot live without her. Anglers are the only fish that have this type of union.

Anglers lay their eggs in sheets. The sheet from one female can contain up to one million eggs. These will float to the surface, forming a raft that can spread up to 10m in length. When the young anglers hatch, they will stay in open water until they reach about 8cm. The juvenile anglers have extra long fins that keep them on top of the water, but these will become smaller as they grow. Eventually they will drop to the seabed and start the mating game all over again.

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