Krøyer's Deep Sea Anglerfish
Most of the creatures of the deep sea are still a mystery. Their
structural and functional adaptations are different from any other
animals in the world. One of the most intriguing creatures in the
deep ocean is the anglerfish.
There are approximately 323 species of Lophiformes identified.
In 1845,
Captain-Lieutenant Carl Peter Holboll (1795-1856) found an
unidentified organism in the deep waters off Greenland. Holboll
delivered the specimen to Henrik Nikolai Kroyer, a Danish
ichthyologist and craniologist who later described the specimen as
Ceratias holboelli.
All classifications are based
solely on the female anglerfish. The female C. holboelli can range
from 16.5 to 855 millimeters in length and are distinguished from
other species by having a single escal
appendage at the tip of the illicium. The male C. holboelli
attaches to the female at an early stage in development. The
parasitic male, which is completely dependent on the female for
nutrients and protection, can range from 35 to 1140 millimeters in
length.
The following video was created by
zefrank to provide facts about
the anglerfish in a comedic fashion. This video also provides great
motion pictures of various species of anglerfish.
This website was created for the Multiple Organisms project by the Biology department of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.