![]() ![]() The footballfish was first discovered in 1837 by Johan Reinhardt. There are six branchiostegal rays and 19 vertebrae the parietal is lacking throughout life, there are no epurals, and the pelvic bone is triradiate. In both sexes, the fins are spineless: the single dorsal fin with 5–6 soft rays, the pectoral fins with 14–18, the anal fin with four, and the caudal fin with 19. The jaw lacks teeth, whereas those of the denticular bone have fused into a larger mass the upper denticular bone possesses 10–17 hooked denticles. The pterygiophore of the illicium does not protrude from the snout, and there is no hyoid barbel.Īt maturity, the streamlined males have an enlarged posterior nostril (with 10–17 lamellae) slightly ovoid eye with an enlarged pupil creating a narrow anterior aphakic space no ilicium or esca and the head and body is covered in dermal spinules, those along the snout midline being enlarged. Escal morphology varies between species, and it may or may not possess denticles or accessory appendages, the latter either branched or unbranched. Originating above or slightly in advance of the small eye is an illicium (the "fishing rod") and at its end a bioluminescent, bulbous esca (the "fishing lure", its light owing to symbiotic bacteria). Footballfish females differ from those of other ceratioid families by their shortened, blunt snout along with the chin, it is covered in sensory papillae. The subequal jaws are anteriorly lined with rows of numerous close-set, depressible, and retrorse teeth vomerine teeth are absent. In females, the mouth is large and oblique. Both are a reddish brown to black in life. Their flesh is gelatinous, but thickens in the larger females, which also possess a covering of "bucklers" - round, bony plates each with a median spine - that are absent in males. The family contains about 22 species all in a single genus, Himantolophus (from the Greek imantos, "thong, strap", and lophos, "crest").Īs in most other deep-sea anglerfish families, sexual dimorphism is extreme: the largest females may exceed lengths of 60 centimetres (24 inches) and are globose in shape, whereas males do not exceed 4 cm ( 1 + 1⁄ 2 in) as adults and are comparatively fusiform. This description is only for females.The footballfish form a family, Himantolophidae, of globose, deep-sea anglerfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean. They are covered in spikes and their sharp teeth are not used to chomp but to trap other fish, squid, and crustaceans that dwell in depths of up to 3,300ft, according to the California Academy of Sciences. Scientists know they typically dwell thousands of feet beneath the surface and lure unsuspecting prey into their mouths with the help of the flashy bioluminescent bulbs that dangle from their heads. ![]() ![]() ![]() The Pacific footballfish is one of the 100 species of anglerfish found around the world. But the two that were recovered this year (a third was photographed on the beach but disappeared before scientists got to the scene) are already offering the chance of new insights about the species. If that was the case, he said, there would be many more. The Pacific footballfish is the third to wash ashore in California this year, a highly unusual event given its extreme reclusiveness.īen Frable, an ichthyologist and the Collection Manager of Fishes at Scripps Institution of Oceanography who is examining and preserving the fish said in the statement, that this was an indication that something was amiss. Photograph Ben Frable Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San DĪccording to the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography swiftly identified it as a Pacific football fish, a deep-sea dweller so rare that only 31 specimens have been found in more than a century since it was first discovered. The latest Pacific footballfish to wash up in California. ![]()
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