- Photocorynus spiniceps
Taxobox
name = "Photocorynus spiniceps"
image_width =
image_caption =
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Actinopterygii
ordo =Lophiiformes
familia =Linophrynidae
genus = "Photocorynus"
species = "P. spiniceps"
binomial = "Photocorynus spiniceps"
binomial_authority = Regan, 1925"Photocorynus spiniceps" is a species of
anglerfish in the familyLinophrynidae . [cite journal | title = Dwarfed Males Parasitic on the Females in Oceanic Angler-Fishes (Pediculati Ceratioidea) | author =Charles Tate Regan | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. | volume = 97 | issue = 684 | year = 1925 | pages = 386–400] [FishBase species | genus = Photocorynus | species = spiniceps | month = February | year = 2006]The known mature male individuals are 6.2–7.3 mm, smaller than any other mature fish and
vertebrate ; the females, however, reach a significantly larger size of up to 50.5 mm. [cite journal | title = Dimorphism, parasitism, and sex revisited: modes of reproduction among deep-sea ceratioid anglerfishes (Teleostei: Lophiiformes) | author = Theodore W. Pietsch | journal = Ichthyological Research | volume = 52 | issue = 3 | year = 2005 | pages = 207–236 | doi = 10.1007/s10228-005-0286-2] [cite web | url = http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002772852_tiniestfish31m.html | title = Catch of the day: Researcher stakes claim to tiny-fish title | publisher = The Seattle Times | date =January 31 ,2001 | accessdate = 2 February | accessyear = 2006] (However, numerous fish species have "both" sexes reaching maturity below 20 mm. [cite journal | author = S. H. Weitzman & R. P. Vari | year = 1988 | title = Miniaturization in South American freshwater fishes; an overview and discussion | journal = Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington | volume = 101 | pages = 444–465] )Like other
anglerfish es, "Photocorynus spiniceps" lures its prey using abioluminescent spinal extension, 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 an hermaphrodite. While the female takes care of swimming and eating, the male, with a large proportion of its body consisting of testes, is charged with the task of aiding reproduction.References
*
External links
* [http://www.howfishbehave.ca/ Some records in the fish world]
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