Linophryne arborifera

Taxobox
name = Linophryne arborifera


image_caption = Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Lophiiformes
familia = Linophrynidae
genus = "Linophryne"
species = "L. arborifera"
binomial = "Linophryne arborifera"
binomial_authority = Regan, 1925

"Linophryne arborifera", or illuminated netdevil [Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten, "Astonishing Animals: Extraordinary Creatures and the Fantastic Worlds They Inhabit". New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004. Page 192.] , is an anglerfish of the family Linophrynidae, found in all tropical and subtropical oceans at depths below 1,000 m. Its length is up to 77 mm.

"Linophryne arborifera" has a deeply-rounded body with a small horn above each eye and a huge mouth full of long sharp teeth. It has two lures, one large and rising from the front of the snout, and the second dense and complexly branched, hanging from beneath the chin. Their colour is black.

These fish, and others in the same family, spend most of their time hanging motionless in the complete darkness of midwater below 1,000 metres, waiting for prey to approach attracted by their glowing lures.

The small and degenerate males attach themselves to the female and become parasitic after a short free-swimming life.

Notes