Thaumatichthyidae, the wolftrap anglers, is a small

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 ...

of deep-sea

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 ...

es, containing two

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and eight species found in all oceans. They are commonly known as wolftrap anglers or wolftrap seadevils because of their distinctive upper jaws with movable premaxillaries that can be lowered to form a cage-like trap around the much shorter lower jaw. They are related to (and were formerly placed within) the family Oneirodidae.

References

Deep sea fish Marine fish families {{Lophiiformes-stub