Meet frogfish: A fish that is nothing like a frog!
The sea is full of truly bizarre creatures, big and small, many of which are still unknown to us! For example, did you know there is a fish that looks like a pile of spikes? Not quite appealing to the eyes, this fish is called ‘frogfish.’
With their habitat in the Atlantic Ocean, frogfish are also known as striated frogfish, black angler, blotched anglerfish and spitlure frogfish. They are found in sandy, rocky and rubble habitats and coral reefs. The fish lives about 300-718 feet deep inside the ocean. Frogfish are famous for their strange appearance and unusual feeding habits. They have a stocky body that is covered in spinules i.e., small spines. They have three frontal fins, out of which the front most one is called illicium or ‘rod.’ They also have two to seven worm-like appendages on the body that can regenerate if lost. Here are some more strange facts about the frogfish!
The fish doesn’t swim!
Yes, you heard it right! Unlike other fish, the frogfish don’t swim. So, you must be thinking, how do they move from one place to another? The answer is, they walk! These fish can walk on the sea floor. The frogfish uses its wide fins to walk along the sea floor, looking for something to eat. Who knew fish could walk too? Also, remaining close to the surface helps them camouflage with the seaweed and coral reefs. Now, because the frogfish don’t swim, they lack the typical dorsal fins found in most fish that we see. Frogfish is truly a fish like no other!
Frogfish mimics the movement of its prey
All marine creatures have their own set of tricks to attract preys. A frogfish tracks the movement of the prey in close surroundings. As the prey comes closer, it moves the frontmost fin in a way to mimic the movement of the prey nearby. Then, the frogfish rapidly attacks it by opening and closing its jaws really fast pulling it inside the mouth. The attack lasts merely for six milliseconds! That is quick enough for the prey to get caught off guard, isn’t it? Frogfish is also gifted with muscles that allow it to expand the stomach to swallow animals twice its size. It relishes on crustaceans, flounders (flatfish), shrimp and lionfish.
Frogfish can change their colour
Changing colour to match the surroundings is a camouflage technique many creatures use. It helps them catch prey and protects them from their predators! Frogfish, too, is a master of camouflage.
They can be light yellow, orange, grey or brown in colour, with or without black stripes on the body. They can change their colour to match the surroundings like corals, tunicates, sponges, and rocks. The colour change can happen within a few weeks. There is a fitting example of this technique. The frogfish in the Maldives have vibrant hues of orange and pink to match the vibrant corals. However, climate change and rising temperatures have led to the bleaching of colourful corals, rendering them white. And in a surprising turn of events, the frogfish there have changed their colour to white to match the bleached corals in the surroundings! Incredible, right?