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Frogfish Facts for Scuba Divers
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Read more about the spectacular life in our oceans in our marine life blogs. Would you like to know more about the wonderful marine life that you might encounter on a liveaboard cruise? Click here to read more about Great White Shark Diving.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Frogfish - Antennariidae Family
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A firm favourite with photographers Frogfish, this type of anglerfish, are masters of disguise and difficult to spot. There are 45 species of frogfish that are found in the tropical and subtropical waters of Asia, Africa, Australia and North America. The highest diversity is in the Indo Pacific area, especially Indonesia and the Lembeh Strait area. Ambon is the only area where the psychedelic frogfish has been found. They are found on coral reefs and are bottom dwellers spending most of the time on the seabed.
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Appearances can be deceptive.
Their size and colour do vary depending on the species, the largest is 40cm down to tiny thumbnail size. They have no scales but a textured exterior and often spines and bumps that can change according to the habitat they are in. The colour and textural changes are not instant like chameleons, but instead, take a few days to several weeks.
Specific species can use mimicry to blend to the background, such as algae-covered stone, corals, sponges, sea squirts or sargassum. Sea Slugs have even been known to crawl over them as the camouflage is so good. During some coral bleaching events where the coral became white, some frogfish also became pure white to match the surroundings.
Disguise is important for defence as they have no scales, but some are also able to “blow up” like puffer fish when threatened. The juvenile painted frogfish have a defence mechanism of mimicking a toxic nudibranch so any prey would ignore them.
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But for most frogfish, the camouflage is not used for defence but rather to attract prey by mimicking a potential meal. The frogfish are carnivores with a diet of fish, crustaceans and even other frogfish.
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Modified dorsal fin
The dorsal fin has developed so that it resembles a lure that they use to attract the prey. If this is damaged or even eaten, it can regenerate. When prey is spotted they begin to wiggle the lure to mimic the food animal it resembles.
Once within reach, the frogfish can expand their mouth by up to 12 times of its closed size to swallow the prey. As an ambush predator, they use the surprise method and are one of the fastest attacks recorded at six milliseconds. The prey can be double the size of the frogfish itself due to the expansion of the mouth and the lack of teeth, and it is swallowed whole. The oesophagus closed with a special muscle to keep the prey from escaping, and the stomach actually expands to accommodate the ingestion.
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The frogfish does not have a swim bladder, so they need to walk on their modified pectoral fins across the seabed, they can even gallop at times. They can propel themselves with tail fin strokes and a sort of jet propulsion by forcing water out of the gill openings.
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Mating rituals
They are usually solitary, only found with others during the mating season, the female can even eat the male after mating if he remains close.
There are two types of mating for the frogfish species, substrate spawning or the more common free spawning.
The substrate spawners use a solid material such as rock or plants to attach the fertilised eggs too. In some cases the male guards these until they hatch. In rare cases, the eggs are actually attached to the body of the male between hairs, bumps or other structures.
Free spawning is when the fertilised eggs immediately float away in the currents without any further involvement of the adults. The small eggs are coated in a gelatinous mass or ribbon which can hold up to 180,000 eggs. They can take up to 5 days to hatch. Once hatched they digest the yolk sac and resemble jellyfish for around two months. At that point the take the frogfish form and move to the seabed.
Frogfish can live for up to 20 years and have a thriving population. Their natural enemies are moray eels and from larger fish species.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Images were provided by Debbie Arriaga @OurOceanImages[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]