Lophius
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| Monkfish Fossil range: Eocene to Present[1] |
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Lophius americanus |
Members of the genus Lophius, also sometimes called monkfish, goosefish, fishing-frogs, frog-fish, and sea-devils, are well known off the coasts of Europe generally, the grotesque shape of its body and its singular habits having attracted the attention of naturalists of all ages. To the North Sea fishermen this fish is known as the "monk," or "monkfish", a name which also belongs to Squatina squatina, the angelshark, a fish allied to the skates (see monkfish for discussion). The north European species is L. piscatorius, the more southern species L. budegassa.
The head is of enormous size, broad, flat and depressed, the remainder of the body appearing merely like an appendage. The wide mouth extends all round the anterior circumference of the head; and both jaws are armed with bands of long pointed teeth, which are inclined inwards, and can be depressed so as to offer no impediment to an object gliding towards the stomach, but to prevent its escape from the mouth. The pectoral and ventral fins are so articulated as to perform the functions of feet, the fish being enabled to move, or rather to walk, on the bottom of the sea, where it generally hides itself in the sand or amongst sea-weed. All round its head and also along the body the skin bears fringed appendages resembling short fronds of sea-weed, a structure which, combined with the extraordinary faculty of assimilating the colour of the body to its surroundings, assists this fish greatly in concealing itself in places which it selects on account of the abundance of prey.
Lophius sp. have three long filaments sprouting from the middle of its head; these are the detached and modified three first spines of the anterior dorsal fin. As with all anglerfish species, the longest filament is the first, which terminates in an irregular growth of flesh, the esca, and is movable in all directions; this modified fin ray is used as a lure to attract other fishes, which the monkfish then seizes with its enormous jaws, devouring them whole. Experiments have shown, however, that whether the prey has been attracted to the lure or not is not strictly relevant, as the action of the jaws is an automatic reflex triggered by contact with the esca.
They are also characterised by (again, as with most anglerfish species) an enormously distensible stomach, which allows an individual monkfish to swallow prey fully as large as itself[citation needed] . It grows to a length of more than 5 ft.; specimens of 3 ft. are common.
The spawn of this genus is very remarkable. It consists of a thin sheet of transparent gelatinous material 2 or 3 ft. broad and 25 to 30 ft. in length. The eggs in this sheet are in a single layer, each in its own little cavity. The spawn is free in the sea. The larvae are free-swimming and have the pelvic fins with elongated filaments.
The British species is found all round the coasts of Europe but becomes scarce beyond 60° N. latitude; it occurs also on the coasts of the Cape of Good Hope. The species caught in North American waters is usually Lophius americanus. A third species (Lophius budegassa) inhabits the Mediterranean, and a fourth (L. setigerus) the coasts of China and Japan.
There is concern over the sustainability of Monkfish fishing [1]. The method most commonly used to catch monkfish, beam trawling, has been described as damaging to seafloor habitats. In February 2007, the British supermarket chain ASDA banned monkfish from their stores [2].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: p.560.
[edit] External links
- The Compleat Lophius
- Monkfish facts, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
- NOAA Monkfish Research Program
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
