Monkfish: Life Cycle of a Deep Sea Angler Fish. Features of angler fish, or is the angler fish so scary
A fish with a flashlight on its head or an angler fish.
Sexual dimorphism in deep-sea anglers is expressed in the fact that females are much larger than males and differ not only in body structure, but also in the way of existence. They have a huge mouth; sharp, slightly curved teeth and a distendable stomach to digest prey in excess of them own weight... The first ray of the dorsal fin in females, called illicium, is located above the mouth in the form of a "fishing rod", at its end there is a luminous "bait" - an esca, which serves not only for hunting, but also as a reference point that helps the male to find the female.
Illicium in individuals of different species can have different shape and size, and also can be supplied with cutaneous appendages. Luminous esca is a special gland with mucus that contains bioluminescent bacteria. Due to the expansion of the walls of the arteries that feed the gland with blood, the female Ceratioidea can cause the luminescence of bacteria that need an oxygen supply, or, conversely, stop it, arbitrarily narrowing the vessels. The glow in the form of a series of successive flashes in each species of these deep-sea fish occurs in a different way. A male angler fish has neither a “rod” or a “bait”.
The female of the bottom anglerfish Galatheathauma axeli, living at a depth of about 3600 meters, has a luminous esca in its mouth, allowing it to hunt lying on the bottom. Adult female angler fishes feed on deep-sea fish, crustaceans and cephalopods; males prefer bristle-maxillary and copepod crustaceans. The gluttony of female angler fishes sometimes leads them to death. Having captured very large prey, it will no longer be able to release the victim due to the special structure of its teeth, therefore it dies with a fish stuck in its mouth.
Angler fish - reproduction and features of sexual dimorphism.
Having approached the female, the male recognizes her, in which the structure of the Esca, the color and frequency of its flashes play an important role. The male clings to the female with its sharp teeth on the side. Soon, the male's body is reduced in such a way that it fuses with the female's tongue and lips, and his jaws, teeth, eyes and even intestines contract so much that it turns into her appendage, which produces sperm. Up to three males can be on one female at the same time. Such a male feeds on the substances contained in the female's blood, since their blood vessels also grow together.
Once attached, the male completely loses its independence, which is of great biological importance for deep-sea fish and is associated with the difficulty of finding sexually mature individuals for each other, as well as with the limited amount of food for great depths Oh. Despite the fact that at a depth of two to three thousand meters there are practically no seasonal changes, angler fish breeds in the spring and summer. Spawning happens at enough great depth, where females spawn from one to four million small eggs, the diameter of which is no more than 0.5-0.7 millimeters. Gradually, the caviar rises up.
The larvae appear in the surface layer at a depth of thirty to two hundred meters. The average length of the Ceratioidea larva is two to three millimeters. Copepods and bristle-maxillary crustaceans serve as food for them. By the beginning of the transition to a different form and the acquisition of a new appearance juveniles manage to descend to a depth of more than a thousand meters. Anglers who have already reached puberty and have undergone metamorphosis live at the level of 1500-2000 meters. Such vertical migration of angler fish has essential, because in the near-surface warm layer, sedentary larvae can fully feed and accumulate nutrients for the upcoming metamorphosis.
Wow! God forbid I dream of SUCH! Any Small child now at the sight of such a cry. And this fish - Deep sea angler! Terrible horror! Now you will learn more about it.
What it is?
Deep sea angler- fish from the anglerfish squad. It got its name from the process on the head of females, resembling a fishing rod and emitting light. This "fishing rod" serves to attract prey.
Habitat
It lives in all oceans at a depth of three kilometers from the surface of the water.
Lifestyle
This horror feeds on everything that moves. He does not disdain either shellfish or fish. They are very voracious and often attack prey larger than themselves. Their stomachs can stretch out to digest a larger piece.
Interesting Facts
In general, everything described above is about female angler fishes. And males are much smaller than females, their length reaches one meter, while females are at least five meters long. Males have one thing unique property- they parasitize on females! It looks like this: before puberty, males have exceptional olfactory senses, which allow them to find a female in the pitch darkness by the smell of her pheromones. Having found a "girlfriend" for himself, the male attaches to the body of the female with his teeth and eventually completely loses his independence. The only organ that continues to function is the penis, which produces sperm, which the female needs to reproduce. There can be up to three such males about one female
European anglerfish, or European monkfish (lat.Lophius piscatorius) - large fish up to one and a half meters long, of which two-thirds falls on the head, and weighs up to 20 kilograms.
This species got the name "monkfish" because of its very unattractive appearance.
The mouth is disgracefully large and studded with a palisade of sharp teeth. The bare skin with a fringe of leathery lobes gives the fish an unusually disgusting appearance. On the head is a fishing rod - the first ray of the dorsal fin shifted forward, from which an appetizing "bait" hangs - a small leathery bulb.
For days, the devil lies motionless on the bottom and patiently waits for some fish to be tempted by his bait. Then, without hesitation, it opens its mouth and swallows its prey.
The European monkfish belongs to the angler fish family. They live at a depth of 50-200 meters and are considered fairly common inhabitants of coastal waters. Only recently it became known that their close relatives live in the depths of the ocean. They called them deep-sea anglers.
About 120 species are now known. These amazing creatures are small or very small fish... Females are from 5-10 to 20-40 centimeters long, only the citation grows up to a meter, and males are dwarfs 14-22 millimeters in size.
The main diet is fish. Able to crawl and even "jump" with the help of its hand-like pectoral fins. Most often, the anglerfish lies motionless at the bottom. Merging with the bottom, the anglerfish lures prey to itself with a lure-eskoy. When the prey swims up to the hunter, the angler opens its mouth in a split second and sucks in water there along with the victim.
Only females have a fishing rod. Often this tackle is clearly divided into a rod, a fishing line and a luminous bait suspended at its end. In each species of angler fishes, the bait has a shape, size, characteristic only of these fish, and emits light rays of a strictly defined color. The bait is a mucus-filled pouch in which glowing bacteria live. In order to emit light, bacteria need oxygen. When the angler fish has lunch and is busy digesting food, then he does not need light. It can attract the attention of a large predator to the anglerfish. Then the devil squeezes the blood vessels of the line and temporarily extinguishes his flashlight.
The rod, located above the head of the fish, is directed up and forward, and the bait dangles at the very mouth. It is here that gullible game is lured. Giantaxis have a rod with a line 4 times longer than the fish itself. This allows you to throw the bait far and, teasing the prey, lure it to the mouth, always ready to open. Each type of bait attracts a very specific game. This is confirmed by the fact that in the stomachs of some anglers, such fish are constantly found, which are rarely found in deep-sea trawls and are considered very rare.
In deep-sea anglers, everything is unusual, especially breeding. Males and females are so unlike each other that they were previously considered different kinds fish. When the male becomes an adult, he goes in search of the female. At the grooms big eyes and an impressive olfactory organ to help locate the female. For a tiny fish, finding a bride is difficult. Nobody knows how much time they spend on it. It is not surprising that, having found a bride, the male immediately bites into her with his teeth.
Soon the lips and tongue of the male grows to the body of the wife, and she takes the husband for full support. Through the vessels that have grown into his body, the female supplies him with everything he needs. The male's jaws, intestines and eyes are no longer needed and they will atrophy. In the body of the male, only the heart and gills continue to work, helping to supply oxygen to his body, and even the testes. During breeding, the female spawns eggs, and the male regularly waters it with milk.
Monkfish fish is another the most interesting representative underwater fauna of our planet.
They say that the devil is a fictional character ... But no! V sea waters, among the dark depths there is a creature whose appearance is so terrible and ugly that scientists have not come up with a name for it other than a monkfish!
It should be said that the aquatic fauna also contains one more monkfish - the mollusk, but now we will focus on the representative of ray-finned fish. Scientists attribute this marine life to the anglerfish order, which includes the anglerfish family and the anglerfish genus.
There are currently two kinds on earth monkfish- European and American. Let's take a look at the photo of the monkfish and take a closer look at its appearance ...
Angler fish appearance
The first thing that should be noted in the appearance of this unsightly fish is the "fishing rod". This is such an outgrowth on the head of the monkfish, which really looks very much like a fishing rod. With such an adaptation, the fish lures its prey, as if - "catches" it. That is why they gave these fish the name - anglers.
The body length of the monkfish is about 2 meters, while the animal weighs almost 20 kilograms. The body has a slightly flattened shape. In general, the angler is not a very pleasant fish in appearance. It is all covered with some kind of leathery outgrowths that look similar to snags and algae. The head is disproportionately large, huge and unpleasant in the monkfish and mouth.
The color of the skin is brown, on the abdominal part of the body it is lighter, almost white.
Where does the angler live?
The habitat of this fish is the Atlantic Ocean. The angler is found off the coast of Europe, off the coast of Iceland. Also, the anglerfish has been found in the waters Baltic Sea, Black Sea, North Sea and the Barents Sea.
The lifestyle and behavior of monkfish in nature
The depth at which these fish usually live is from 50 to 200 meters. Most often they are found at the very bottom, because there is nothing more pleasant for a monkfish than just lying calmly on the sand or silt. But it is only at first glance that the angler is messing around. In fact, this is one of the ways to hunt. The animal freezes, waiting for its prey. And when she swims by - grabs her and eats her.
The angler also knows how to hunt in another way - with the help of fins, he jumps along the bottom and so overtakes his prey.
What do monkfish eat?
Mainly, other, usually smaller, fish serve as food for these fish. The monkfish menu consists of katrans, atherins, kalkans, stingrays and others.
The gadget on the head in the form of a luminous fishing rod attracts small fish and leads it directly ... into the mouth of the angler. How does angler fish breed?
When these fish begin the mating season, they descend to a depth of 2000 meters to lay eggs there. One female monkfish is capable of laying a clutch of about three million eggs. The entire accumulation of eggs forms a wide ten-meter tape, which is divided into hexagonal cells.
After a certain period of time, these honeycomb cells are destroyed. Freeing eggs, which, in turn, start to float freely, being carried by the underwater current.
A few days later, small larvae are born from the eggs, which, after 4 months, become angler fish fry. After the fry grow up to 6 centimeters long, they sink to the bottom, in shallow water.
Enemies of monkfish
This sphere of life of the monkfish is still poorly understood.
Is the angler fish dangerous to humans?
Actually, the angler is not in the habit of attacking a person. But if you accidentally prick your foot on the spike of an angler fish, you can hurt yourself painfully. In addition, the angler does not like "obsessive visitors" and can show all the sharpness of his teeth to those who are very zealous trying to get to know him!
Fried medallions and tender pate, aromatic fillet with cheese sauce and sweet soup - these and many other delicacies from monkfish are offered to visitors of expensive European and Asian restaurants. Light, with pinkish veins, low-calorie meat has decent taste.
Per strange name"Monkfish" hides an interesting representative of the class of ray-finned fishes (a detachment of anglerfish). The name of the inhabitant of oceanic and deep sea received for a rather scary appearance, cunning and incredible gluttony.
Description
The anglerfish squad consists of 11 known to science families of about 120 fish species. The angler fish is one of the large predators... In the catches, there are usually individuals up to 1 meter long and weighing up to 10 kg, but there are also two-meter giants weighing up to 40 kg.
The entire order of anglerfish has a disproportionate body: the narrow rear part is flattened from the sides, and the wider front part (including the head) is flattened in the dorsal-abdominal direction.
A wide mouth with a slightly pushed forward lower jaw can open practically along the entire circumference of a huge head, which is up to 2/3 of the length of the fish
The structure of the upper and lower jaw (in particular, flexible bones and a movable upper jaw) allow the monkfish to swallow prey that is much larger than it.
Sharp teeth of various lengths curved inward complement the unsightly picture.
The unique dorsal fin deserves special attention. It is divided into two independent parts. The posterior is not of scientific interest: it is soft, located near the tail, its rays are connected by a membrane.
The anterior part of the fin consists of six spiny rays. One is at the top of the head, just above the jaw.
The beam (scientifically illicium or hunting outgrowth) is directed forward and looks like a kind of rod
Due to the catching outgrowth, the anglerfish has a different name - angler fish. In some species, the illicium can be drawn into a special hole in the back. The fish lures food with its own flashlight. It is called "esca" and is located at the end of the illicium and is a leathery growth.
In fact, esca is a gland filled with mucus, which is inhabited by living microorganisms. Bacteria have bioluminescence that requires oxygen. During the hunt, the angler fish expands the walls of the arteries, providing oxygen to the gland.
The bacteria glow, creating a series of successive outbreaks that attract potential prey.
Once full, the angler fish narrows the walls of blood vessels, and the glow stops.
For this feature monkfish is sometimes called lanternfish.
Another nickname of the angler fish is associated with fins - the frog fish.
Powerful muscular pectoral fins, reinforced with skeletal bones, allow the monkfish to move along the bottom like an amphibian: with special jumps or crawling, alternately rearranging the fins
Interesting fact! Nature has endowed only the female monkfish with a fishing rod with a flashlight.
Sexual dimorphism and reproductive characteristics
Anatomical differences are manifested not only in the absence of Illicium with Eski in males, that is, the main adaptations for obtaining food. Dimorphism is primarily expressed by a significant difference in the growth of males and females. If average length of females, depending on the species, varies from 0.5 to 1.5 meters, then males of angler fishes have a height from 16 mm to 4 cm.
Scientists have long puzzled why only females end up in fishermen's nets mysterious fish... Males were even credited with some semblance of intelligence, allowing them to avoid captivity.
Gradually, the male grows together with the female tongue and lips, and a little later and blood vessels... He loses vital organs (teeth, intestines, eyes) and becomes an appendage of the female, feeding on her blood.
In the photo, the arrow indicates the male attached to the female. The picture gives an idea of the dimorphism of individuals of different sexes.
Being almost completely dissolved in the female, the male fertilizes the eggs at the right time
The only function the male retains is the ability to produce sperm. For this reason, the female often carries up to 4 males.
Females are very fertile. In the spring-summer period, they lay up to 3 million eggs. Spawning occurs at a depth of at least 900 m. Eggs are combined into ribbon-like masonry up to 12 meters long. The slime-covered tape floats freely until the cell walls begin to disintegrate. The hatched larvae live in the surface layer of the reservoir for 2–3 weeks, feeding on pelagic eggs, copepods, and fry of other fish. Only after reaching a length of 8 cm does the young angler fish sink to a depth.
The range of the most common species
Observing the monkfish is difficult due to the great depths of its habitat. Of the 120 species included in the anglerfish order, five are the most studied:
- European monkfish: distributed in the Black, Baltic, Barents, North Seas, in the European Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel. It lives at a depth of 18 to 550 meters, where it grows up to 2 meters;
- black-bellied angler(other names: budegasse angler, southern European angler): differs from its European counterpart in more modest size: 0.5-1 meter. The zone of distribution of the species is the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean from Great Britain to Senegal (habitat depth 300-650 m). Fish can be found in the Mediterranean and Black Seas at a kilometer depth;
- American monkfish: inhabits the waters of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean at depths of up to 670 meters. Maximum length American angler fish 1.2 meters, weight - about 23 kg;
- Far Eastern angler(yellow or Japanese anglerfish): the one and a half meter monster took a fancy to the waters of the Japanese, Yellow, Okhotsk seas. Less common in Pacific in the region of Japan. Feels comfortable at a depth of 50 meters to 2 kilometers;
- Burmese angler(Cape anglerfish): lives in the western Indian and southeastern Atlantic oceans at depths of up to 400 meters. The size of the largest individual does not exceed 1 meter.
All species are of commercial importance. If earlier monkfish were caught as a by-catch, now valuable fish are purposefully hunted with the help of nets. Amateurs catch angler fish with bottom tackle on live bait.
How and who the anglerfish hunts
On the head of the angler fish there are small, close-set eyes, but visual acuity deep sea fish cannot boast. However, she does not need to chase after prey. Monkfish prefers to ambush near the bottom.
Natural camouflage contributes to successful hunting.
The constantly wiggling long leathery folds around the mouth of the monkfish mislead gullible fish. They mistake them for algae
The fish has no scales. Its body is covered with plaques, spines, bumps and similar growths. The bare skin is colored in accordance with the general background of the habitat's pond bottom. Usually it is brown, black, dark gray, in some species light spots are chaotically scattered over the body.
Interesting fact! Waiting for a victim, the angler is capable of long time stay still and even hold your breath. Pauses between breaths can be up to 2 minutes.
As soon as the inhabitants of the reservoir, attracted by the glow, come close to the eske, the angler sharply opens its huge mouth and, together with the stream of water, draws in its prey. The victim does not have time to provide resistance: the whole process lasts no more than 6 milliseconds.
The diet of the monkfish consists of various crustaceans, as well as bottom fish: flounder, eel, stingray, and sometimes small sharks. During the period of zhora, the angler can leave the usual depth. Then cod, mackerel, herring become its prey.
There are known cases of fish attacks on waterfowl. True, such gluttony costs the life of the angler himself: he dies from feathers stuck in his mouth
The frightening appearance of the monkfish has given rise to many superstitions and legends. It is widely believed that the anglerfish attacks swimmers. The statement is only partly true. During the period of zhora, the fish rises to the surface of the reservoir and can really bite a person. The rest of the time, the monkfish prefers to stay at depths out of reach for divers.
In the UK, since 2007, there has been a ban on the sale of monkfish meat in supermarkets. This is how ecologists are trying to preserve the unique fish.
