What is "frogfish"

Angler \An"gler\, n.

1. One who angles.

2. (Zo["o]l.) A fish ( Lophius piscatorius), of Europe and America, having a large, broad, and depressed head, with the mouth very large. Peculiar appendages on the head are said to be used to entice fishes within reach. Called also fishing frog, frogfish, toadfish, goosefish, allmouth, monkfish, etc.

n. Any of several benthic anglerfish, of the family ''(taxlink Antennariidae family noshow=1)'', having a frog-like mouth with a lure

1. n. fish having a frog-like mouth with a lure on the snout

2. [also: frogfishes (pl)]

Frogfishes are any member of the anglerfish family Antennariidae, of the order Lophiiformes. Antennariids are known as anglerfishes in Australia, where the term "frogfish" refers to members of the unrelated family Batrachoididae. Frogfishes are found in almost all tropical and subtropical oceans and seas around the world, the primary exception being the Mediterranean Sea.

Frogfishes are small, short and stocky, and sometimes covered in spinules and other appendages to aid in camouflage. The camouflage aids in protection from predators and to enables them to lure prey. Many species can change colour; some are covered with other organisms such as algae or hydrozoa. In keeping with this camouflage, frogfishes typically move slowly, lying in wait for prey, and then striking extremely rapidly, in as little as 6 milliseconds.

Few traces of frogfishes remain in the fossil record, though Antennarius monodi is known from the Miocene of Algeria.

The frogfish is a family of anglerfish, Antennariidae, in the order Lophiiformes.

Frogfish may also refer to:

• Australian frogfish, a ray-finned fish in the order Batrachoidiformes, an ambush predator
• Archaically fishes of the genus Lophius