Frogfish

Frogfishes, family Antennariidae, are a type of anglerfish in the order Lophiiformes. They are known as anglerfishes in Australia, where 'frogfish' refers to a different type of fish. Frogfishes are found in almost all tropical and subtropical oceans and seas around the world, the primary exception being the Mediterranean Sea.

Range

Frogfish live in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic and Pacific, as well as in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Their habitat lies for the most part between the 20-degree isotherms, in areas where the surface level water usually has a temperature of 20 C (68 F) or more. They extend beyond the 20-degree isotherms in the area of the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands, along the Atlantic coast of the USA, on the south coast of Australia and the northern tip of New Zealand, coastal Japan, around Durban, South Africa, and at Baja California.[2] The most types are found in the Indo-Pacific region with the highest concentration around Indonesia. In the tiny Lembah Strait, north-east of Sulawesi, divers have found nine different species. Frogfish live generally on the ocean floor around coral or rock reefs, at most up to 100 meters (330 ft) deep.

There are a few exceptions to these general limits. The Brackishwater Frogfish is at home in ocean waters as well as brackish and fresh water around river mouths. The Sargassumfish lives in clumps of drifting sargassum, which often floats into the deeper ocean and have been known to take the sargassumfish as far north as Norway.

Features

Frogfish have a stocky appearance, atypical of fish. Ranging from 2.5–38 cm (1-15 inches) long, their plump, high-backed, non-streamlined body is scaleless and bare, often covered with bumpy, bifurcated spinules. Their short bodies have between 18 and 23 vertebrae and their mouths are upward pointed with palatal teeth. They are often brightly colored, white, yellow, red, green, or black or spotted in several colors in order to blend in with their coral surroundings. Coloration can also vary within one species, making it difficult to differentiate between them.

Rather than typical dorsal fins, the front-most of the three fins is called the illicium or "rod" and is topped with the esca or "lure". The illicium often has striped markings, while the esca takes a different form in each species. Because of the variety of colors even within a single species, the esca and illicium is a useful tool to differentiate among different varieties. Some of them resemble fish, some shrimp, some polychaetes, some tubeworms, and some simply a formless lump; one genus, Echinophryne has no esca at all. Despite very specific mimicry in the esca, examinations of stomach contents do not reveal any specialized predation patterns, for example, only worm-eating fish consumed by frogfish with worm-mimicking esca. If lost, the esca can be regenerated. In many species the illicium and esca can be withdrawn into a depression between the second and third dorsal fins for protection when they are not needed.

Frogfish have small, round gill openings behind their pectoral fins. With the exception of Butler's frogfish and the Rough Anglerfish, frogfish use a gas bladder to control their buoyancy.

Mimicry and camouflage

The unusual appearance of the frogfish is designed to conceal it from predators and sometimes to mimic a potential meal to its prey. In ethology, the study of animal behavior, this is known as aggressive mimicry. Their unusual shape, color, and skin textures disguise frogfish. Some resemble stones or coral while others imitate sponges, or sea squirts with dark splotches instead of holes. In 2005, a species was discovered, the striated frogfish, that mimics a sea urchin while the sargassumfish is colored to blend in with the surrounding sargassum. Some frogfish are covered with algae or hydrozoa. Their camouflage can be so perfect, that sea slugs have been known to crawl over the fish without recognizing them.

For the scaleless and unprotected frogfish, the camouflage is an important defense against predators. Some frogfish can also inflate themselves, like pufferfish, by sucking in water in a threat display. In aquariums and in nature, frogfish have been observed, when flushed from their hiding spots and clearly visible, to be attacked by clownfish, damselfish, and wrasse, and in aquariums, to be killed.

Many frogfish can change their color. The light colors are generally yellows or yellow-browns while the darker are green, black, or dark red. They usually appear with the lighter color, but the change can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. It is unknown what triggers the change.

Movement

Frogfish generally do not move very much, preferring to lie on the sea floor and wait for prey to approach. Once the prey is spotted, they can approach slowly using their pectoral and pelvic fins to walk along the floor. They have two "gaits" that they can use. In the first they alternately move their pectoral fins forward, propelling themselves somewhat like a two-legged tetrapod, leaving the pelvic fins out. Alternately, they can move in something like a slow gallop, whereby they move their pectoral fins simultaneously forward and back, transferring their weight to the pelvic fins while moving the pectorals forward. With either gait, then can only cover short stretches.

In open water, frogfish can swim with strokes of the tail fin. They also have a kind of jet propulsion that is often used by younger frogfish. It is achieved by rhythmically forcing their breath-water out through their gill openings, which lie behind their pelvic fins.

The sargassum frogfish has adapted fins which can grab strands of sargassum, enabling it to "climb" through the seaweed.

Hunting

Frogfish eat crustaceans, other fish, and even each other. When potential prey is first spotted, the frogfish follows it with its eyes. Then, when it approaches within roughly seven body-lengths, the frogfish begins to move its illicium in such a way that the esca mimics the motions of the animal it resembles. As the prey approaches, the frogfish will slowly move itself to prepare for its attack; sometimes this involves approaching the prey or "stalking" while sometimes it is simply adjusting its mouth angle. The catch itself is made by the sudden opening of the jaws, which enlarges the volume of the mouth cavity up to twelve-fold, pulling the prey into the mouth along with water. The attack can be as fast as 6 milliseconds. The water flows out through the gills, while the prey is swallowed and the esophagus closed with a special muscle to keep the victim from escaping. In addition to expanding their mouths, frogfish can also expand their stomachs to swallow animals up to twice their size.

Slow-motion filming has shown that the frogfish sucks in its prey in just six milliseconds, so fast that other animals can't see it happen. This is less time than it takes a muscle to contract so the source of the motion remains unknown. Frogfish have also been observed to eat lionfish; the latter's poison appears to have no effect.

See also..

• Frogfish Reproduction