Frogs with fishing rods
For the first time in its history, the Primorsky Aquarium has obtained several frogfish belonging to the genus Antennarius. These tropical inhabitants are also called “toadfish” and “anglers”. Besides their unusual appearance, the marine dwellers possess another striking feature: they seldom swim, preferring to walk on their modified pectoral fins along the bottom, and spend most of their life lying quietly on the sea floor, with their limblike fins resting against shells or rocks.
“Frogfishes are ambush predators who use their illicium as a fishing rod with a bait to attract prey,” said Mikhail Streltsov, Head of the Tropical Marine Organisms Department. “The illicium is a modified first dorsal fin spine tipped with a skinny appendage; a frogfish wiggles it around in such a way that the appendage mimics the movements of a worm, which lures some smaller fish who then approaches the predator and falls prey to it.”
Colouration of frogfish depends on the habitat a species resides in: some resemble stones, others are coloured to blend in with algae. The Primorsky Aquarium provides home for five frogfish species of various colours and hues ranging from black to greenish crimson. When the exotic newcomers get accustomed to a menu of local food and pass mandatory quarantine procedures conducted by our fish pathologists, they will be moved to the main building of the Aquarium. The frogfish will share a tank with red lionfish, ribbon eels, cleaner wrasses and banded snake eels in the Small Reef exhibit.
17.12.2019
