Fanfin

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Fanfins
Caulophryne sp.
Caulophryne sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Lophiiformes
Family: Caulophrynidae
Genera

Caulophryne
Robia
See text for species.

Fanfins are a family, Caulophrynidae, of anglerfishes. They are found in deep, lightless waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.[1]

They are distinguished from other anglerfishes by the lack of the expanded escal bulb — the bioluminescent lure at the end of the illicium — and by the very long dorsal and anal fin rays.

As in other anglerfishes, males are very much smaller than the females and, after a larval and adolescent free-living stage, spend the rest of their life parasitically attached to a female.[2]

[edit] Species

There are five species in two genera:

  • Genus Caulophryne
    • Caulophryne jordani (Fanfin seadevil) Goode & Bean, 1896.
    • Caulophryne pelagica (Brauer, 1902).
    • Caulophryne pietschi Balushkin & Fedorov, 1985.
    • Caulophryne polynema (Hairy angler)Regan, 1930.
  • Genus Robia
    • Robia legula Pietsch, 1979.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Caulophrynidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
  2. ^ Theodore W. Pietsch (2005). Caulophrynidae. Tree of Life web project. Retrieved on 4 April 2006.