''Photocorynus spiniceps'' is a species of
anglerfish in the family
Linophrynidae. It is in the
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
genus
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 nom ...
''Photocorynus''.
The known mature male individuals are 6.2–7.3 millimeters (0.25-0.3 inches), smaller than any other mature fish and
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
; the females, however, reach a significantly larger size of up to 50.5 millimeters (2 inches). (However, numerous fish species have ''both'' sexes reaching maturity below 20 millimeters (0.8 inches).
)
Like most other deepsea
anglerfishes, ''Photocorynus spiniceps'' lures its
prey
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...
into striking range using a
bioluminescent sac at the end of an
illicium
''Illicium'' is a genus of flowering plants treated as part of the family Schisandraceae, , the highly modified first ray of the dorsal fin, and swallows the prey whole with the help of a distending jaw and a similarly distending stomach. Its prey can sometimes be as big as their own bodies. The male spends its life fused to its much larger female counterpart, therefore effectively turning her into a
hermaphrodite. While the female takes care of swimming and eating, the male, with a large proportion of its body consisting of
testes
A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoste ...
, is charged with the task of aiding reproduction.
References
*
External links
Some records in the fish world
Linophrynidae
Fish of the Philippines
Deep sea fish
Taxa named by Charles Tate Regan
Fish described in 1925
{{Lophiiformes-stub