Anglerfish belongs to the sub-order Ceratioidei, the order Lophiiformes, which includes more than 100 species. It lives in the ocean at depths from 1.5 to 3 km. Her body is spherical, flattened on the sides. The head is huge, occupying more than half of the total length. Awesome mouth with long sharp
with teeth. Naked skin has a dark color, spines and plaques are characteristic only for some species. The "fishing rod", which gave the name to the squad, is the modified first ray of the fin located on the back. Only females have it.
There was an opinion that an anglerfish has ugly forms with bulging eyes. The photo shows it after rising from the depths. In her typical environment, she looks completely different. And we estimate the consequences of a huge pressure difference (at 250 atmospheres) in the water column and on the surface.
Deep sea anglerfish - an amazing creature. Females are hundreds times larger than males. Females who were able to catch and extract from sea water were in the range from 5 to 100 cm in length, and males from 1.6 to 5 cm. This is one of the manifestations of sexual dimorphism. The second is illicium, in common people - the fishing rod of females. It is worth noting that it ends up luminous due to
bioluminescent bacteria "bait". Angler fish is able to "turn it on and off" by narrowing the vessels that feed a kind of gland with blood. The length of illite in different species is different. For some, it can lengthen and contract, luring the victim directly into the mouth of the hunter.
The nutrition of these fish is amazing. Females eat deep-sea fish, crustaceans, and occasionally mollusks. Their stomach can increase in size at times. There are cases when they swallowed victims much larger than themselves. Such greed led to death, because the female choked on “dinner, ” but she couldn’t let it out of itself, long teeth were detained. Given the small size, males are available copepods and bristle-maxillary.
Some species of anglers are characterized by parasitism of males. This is manifested in the fact that the male, having discovered the female by pheromones, clings to her with her teeth, and can no longer disconnect. Over time, his jaws, teeth, intestines, eyes
lose the need to function, although before meeting with her he was a full-fledged organism. Their blood vessels grow together, and the male as a result becomes an appendage of the female, but capable of producing sperm. Sometimes several males can parasitize on one female individual.
Anglerfish breeds in the spring and summer. Females swallow small eggs, males fertilize them. From the depths of the eggs, they float into the surface layer (up to 200 m), where there is more opportunity to feed. Here larvae appear. By the time of metamorphosis, the grown juveniles descend to a depth of 1 km. After the transformation, the anglerfish will go even deeper, where it will reach puberty and live its life.
Anglerfish is one of the manifestations of the diversity of the natural world. It seems to us a wonderful way of being, it is no coincidence that it has been developed for centuries. Much remains unknown. Perhaps someday an explanation will be found.
