SEVENSEAS Marine Conservation & Travel December 2015 Issue 7 | Page 69

Last month Santiago sent us an awesome illustration and a great question from Maryland. He said, "How does the orb on the angler fish work? How does it light up?" Well we have your answer from marine scientist and author Dr. Ellen Prager.

Dear Santiago

The deep-sea anglerfish is one weird-looking creature! Only the females have the lure that you asked about. It is a fleshy appendage on the tip of a modified dorsal spine that can light up. The light comes either from bioluminescent bacteria in the appendage or an organ known as a photophore in which chemicals mix to produce light. The female deep-sea anglerfish hangs out and stays very still. Then, it lights up its yummy looking lure to draw in hungry diners. When a fish or some other creature comes close to eat its lure, the anglerfish opens its very large mouth and grabs it. Because there is less food in the deep sea, fish like the anglerfish have evolved ways to attract prey and they have a large mouth to body size ratio so that if something comes close, they don’t lose it!

Dr. Ellen Prager, Marine Scientist and Author

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