Science Source Stock Photo - Male Anglerfish

Male Anglerfish

Description: Anglerfish of the family Ceratiidae are sexually dimorphic. Females are the sex that most people would recognize as deep sea fish, with their glowing lures at the ends of long "fishing rods" extending from the forehead. Many species also have long teeth and a bulbous body. Males, on the other hand, are small fish (usually about 2.5cm (1 inch) or smaller). Males don't have the big teeth or the glowing lures. They have a well developed sense of smell and they spend the first part of their lives searching the black ocean depths for a female of their own species. If they find one, they swim up, bite her, and hold on. In fact, the male holds on so long that the skin of the female grows over the front of his face and he ultimately becomes connected to her circulatory system. At that point he is fused to her body and entirely reliant on her for food and to dispose of cellular waste. When the time comes for reproduction, he provides sperm to her through the circulatory system. Females can sometimes be found with more than one male attached to their bodies. This individual was trawled up in the Gulf of Mexico, 2015.

Credit:

Danté Fenolio/Science Source

Unique identifier: SS2713072

Legacy Identifier: JC7995

Type: Image

Size: 3872px × 2592px (~28 MB)

Fine Art America

Buy A Print

Add to cart

Direct link to Image

Copy URL to clipboard

Add to lightbox My First Lightbox

Add to cart

Company

Connect