angler

Angler fish entice their prey into their large mouths by means of a fishing rod – a modified dorsal ray with a fleshy lure at its tip. The female of this species (13 cm/5 in long) is very much larger than the male (4 cm/1.75 in long).

Any of an order of fishes Lophiiformes, with flattened body and broad head and jaws. Many species have small, plantlike tufts on their skin. These act as camouflage for the fish as it waits, either floating among seaweed or lying on the sea bottom, twitching the enlarged tip of the threadlike first ray of its dorsal fin to entice prey.

There are over 200 species of angler fish, living in both deep and shallow water in temperate and tropical seas. The males of some species have become so small that they live as parasites on the females.