Ogcocephalidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

anglerfish The anglerfish are fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes (). They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified luminescent fin ray (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure for other fish. The luminescence ...

specifically adapted for a

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

lifestyle of crawling about on the seafloor. Ogcocephalid anglerfish are sometimes referred to as batfishes,Family Ogcocephalidae - Batfishes.
FishBase. 2016. deep-sea batfishes, handfishes, and seabats. They are found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. They are mostly found at depths between , but have been recorded as deep as . A few species live in much shallower coastal waters and, exceptionally, may enter river estuaries. They are dorsoventrally compressed fishes similar in appearance to

rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

, with a large circular or triangular head (box-shaped in ''Coelophrys''), and a small tail. The largest members of the family are approximately in

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

. The

illicium ''Illicium'' is a genus of flowering plants treated as part of the family Schisandraceae,

(a modified

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

ray on the front of the head supporting the

esca The anglerfish are fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes (). They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified luminescent fin ray (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure for other fish. The luminescence ...

, a bulbous lure) may be retracted into an illicial cavity above the mouth. The esca is not luminous, as in most other groups of anglerfishes, but secretes a fluid, lasting approximately two minutes, thought to act as a chemical lure which attracts prey such as crabs, snails, shrimp, and small fish. Analysis of their stomach contents indicates that batfishes feed on fish, crustaceans, and

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class (biology), class of generally marine invertebrate, marine annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that ...

worms. The pelvic and anal fins of many species are stout and thick-skinned, so as to support the body off the substrate. These fins also enable batfishes to walk on the seafloor, though the irregular shape of the fins causes most batfishes to swim awkwardly. This family grouping contains approximately ten genera and 75 known species found in almost all tropical seas around the world.Derouen, et al. 2014

Gallery

Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.ART.537 - Halieutaea stellata - Kawahara Keiga - Siebold Collection.jpg, Painting of ''

Halieutaea stellata The starry handfish, ''Halieutaea stellata'', is a batfish of the family Ogcocephalidae found on the continental shelves of the Indo-Pacific oceans at depths of between 50 and 400 m. They are up to 30 cm long. References * * Tony Ayling & ...

'' by

Kawahara Keiga Kawahara Keiga ( ja, 川原慶賀, also known as Taguchi Takumi or Toyosuke, Nagasaki, 1786–1860?) was a late Edo period Japanese painter of plants, fishes, birds, reptiles, crustaceans, social scenes, landscapes and portraits at the Dutch Facto ...

, 1825 Malthopsis lutea.jpg, The longnose seabat (''Malthopsis lutea)

References

Rade, C. M. (2011). Functional fin morphology of aquatic substrate-based locomotion in ogcocephalid fishes (Lophiiformes;Ogcocephalidae). Integrative and Comparative Biology., 51, E241–E241. Derouen, V. (2015). Examining evolutionary relationships and shifts in depth preferences in batfishes (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution., 84, 27–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2014.12.011

External links

* Deep sea fish Marine fish families Taxa named by David Starr Jordan {{Lophiiformes-stub