David Hall's Encounters in the Sea Photography
Frogfish and Anglerfish
Frogfishes (family Antennaridae) are members of the larger anglerfish group (order Lophiiformes). These unusual-looking fishes possess a luring apparatus with which they attract prey. They are sedentary bottom-dwellers with effective camouflage, and with pectoral fins modified for use as "legs" for standing and walking on the bottom. They have huge mouths and are said to be capable of swallowing prey larger than themselves in as little as 6 milliseconds - one of the fastest known complex reflexes in the animal kingdom. There are 43 described species of frogfishes in 11 genera, with one or more species found in all tropical and subtropical seas, except for the Mediterranean. By far the greatest number of species are found in the region around Australia and Indonesia.