Their distinctive feature, the luminous fishing pole like thing above their mouths, is only found on females. The luminous pole lure fish towards them which they can then eat for lunch. They have huge mouths so can swallow prey up to twice their size!
There are 200 species of Anglerfish and they tend to live at the bottom of the Atlantic and Antarctic oceans. They are often less than a foot in size, but can grow up to 3.3 feet.
The spooky glow of the anglerfish comes from bacteria that occupy the lure of the female anglerfish. Bioluminescence is the most popular source of light in the deep sea.
A male anglerfish actually latches onto a female, and loses all of itsĀ internal organs but the testes. A female will carry 6 or more males at a time. A male fuses to the female, connecting their skin.
