Angler Fish

The angler fish is one of the strangest and scariest looking fish in the ocean. With the look of a fierce predator with sharp teeth, spiked fins and a protruding rod just above the mouth, this fish can stir up fear even in humans.

There are more than 200 species of Angler fish, most of them dwelling in the lifeless, cold and dark waters of the Atlantic and Antarctic Oceans. They can be found in some shallow, tropical environments. Typically dark in color, they are somewhat translucent, and their flexible spine and jaw allow them to consume prey up to twice their size. The huge, sharp teeth and expansive mouth ensures no prey will escape.

For the female Angler fish, her meals depend on attracting prey. With no light in the depths of the ocean, the bioluminescence of her tentacle attracts other ocean-bottom prey. When the prey comes in contact with the dangling tentacle, the jaws of the angler fish clamp down on the prey as an automatic response to tentacle stimulation. Angler fish can swallow prey whole.

Unlike the female angler fish, the male, is much smaller. With a scarce ocean bottom existence the male angler fish has evolved into a parasite. This parasitic nature results in no need for mating. Instead when male angler fish are young, they find a female and latch on to her body. The male literally bites onto the female's body and releases an enzyme that combines his flesh with her flesh.

Over time, all the male's body systems shut down except the testes. His body then becomes a parasitic shell on the female's body, which she will carry throughout her life. When the female releases her eggs, the testes of the parasitic male sense hormonal changes and automatically release sperm to ensure fertilization.