Hairy Frogfish (Antennarius striatus) - Profile | Facts

(Last Updated On: April 13, 2021)

The striated frogfish or hairy frogfish, scientific name Antennarius striatus is a marine fish that belongs to the Antennariidae family. Hairy frogfish gather during the mating period but do not tolerate each other after fertilization.

Description

This small hairy frogfish grows up to 22 centimeters (8.7 inches) tall. Like other members of her family, it has a round, extensible body and is covered with irregularly arranged dermal spinules that resemble soft skin hair. Its large mouth is extensible from the front, allowing it to devour the victim as large as its own.

The color is highly variable because individual fishes have the ability to change the color and pigment patterns of match hairy frogfish to adapt to their living environment, taking weeks to adapt.

The dominant color goes from yellow to brown-orange in different shades, but it can be green, gray, brown, almost white, or even completely black without any patterns.

The bodies and wings can be marked with almost parallel dark stripes or enlarged spots, with some radiating outward from the eyes.

The first page is modified for use as a spine, elysium, advance tips, and a fishing rod. At its tip is a worm-like Esca (greed) that attracts the prey along with the bed. The dorsal spine is composed of two to seven elongated joints.

The temptation is simply a way to distinguish A. striatus from Antennarius hippidus, which otherwise has similar physical properties (stripes, colored, cutaneous fusion) and is often confused.

Elysium has the same length as the spine of the second surface and is often darkened. The spine of the second surface is practically vertical and movable, the third being the back of the body.

They are well separated from each other and also from the dorsal fin.

The pectoral fins of the hairy frogfish are in the corners and the pelvic fins allow the hairy frogfish to “walk” to the bottom of the ocean and keep a steady position in attack.

Distribution

The striated frogfish is found in tropical and sub-tropical waters, from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of Africa, and from the New Jersey coast to the coast of southern Brazil, along the Gulf of Mexico.

And hairy frogfish not only found in the Caribbean are in the Mediterranean and the Arctic.

Williams (1989) and Arnold and Pietes (2012), however, consider Antennarius striatus to be a species complex, and the evolutionary synonym Antenarius scabar is apparently a distinct species in the formation of the Bifid Esca and 11-12 pectoral rays of B. striatus.

Habitat

This species lives in shallow, sandy zones or deep water in rocky and coral reefs. It can be seen 210 meters above the surface, with a depth of 40 miles.

They often mimic corals or sponges around them which blend in with the environment known as cryptic coloration.

As normal daily temperatures rise, it becomes a major problem for the oceans and their inhabitants, which depends on the internal ecosystem for survival. Hairy frogfish are no exception, as they rely on coral reefs for mixing and hunting on small fish.

Once frogfish is subjected to a particular environment, they are able to adapt their settings and change color within a few weeks to mingle with the surroundings.

As the oceans slowly evaporate, it is raising the pH levels, resulting in lower oxygen and more acidic water. In the case of coral bleaching, it is widely expressed in coral walls where habitats are losing ground daily.

The acidic conditions of the ocean bleach the coral, causing it to lose all color. If the coral is losing its color, hairy frogfish must be adapted and harvested or become more vulnerable to predators.

This is seen through the species of Antennarius maculatus where the frogfish has turned white to blend in with the bleached coral in the Indian Ocean.

Behavior

As with all frogfish, a. Hippidas is an indifferent carnivore that will reach the right size prey that usually goes out of reach, usually other fish, but even sometimes it has its own variety. It can devour the victim in its own size.

Like other members of her family, it has a bent and secluded lifestyle. They gather at the time of mating but do not tolerate each other after the drainage.

The antennary family uses a unique form of locomotion that includes propulsion jets involving breathing. Water is taken out of the mouth and extracted through a tube-like gill opening behind the pectoral fins that propel the fish through the eye rash.

This combination of the oral cavity and the combination of a reduced gel opening allows the fish to be inhaled along with the vibrating water jet along the floor.

They have a unique attached pastoral and pelvic fin that allows them to walk along the floor using the anterior surface fin combined with the tail of the anus.

Their wings do not change for actual swimming so they remain flexible on the ocean floor. Despite the ability of camouflage to and around frogfish, they have the ability to express batsian imitation to prevent predators from attacking where they imitate other endangered species, such as marine blood. Examples of this are frogfish mimicking marine urchins resting on the floor.

When found by predators, these fish also have immune systems, including swelling in their bodies to swell up and water to swallow. Frogfish feed on meat, mainly small marine fish and crustaceans, but were known to work in Normandy.

A. Status is one of the rare species in this family that exhibits chemical attractiveness when fishing, which is mainly used when the night light is not available.

It is also seen that Esca is highly sensitive to predators, so when fish are not hunted, fish are enclosed near the body and in some species such as A. pasaradius and A. randalli, they have pocket-like structures that can place S between the second and third surface vertebrae.

Frogfish is one of the fastest ways to eat in the animal kingdom, with no teeth in the fish, and uses whole foods to suck in a breath. They extend their oral cavity by extending the lower jaw down and up.

The trick is to capture the attention of the victim by steering their elysium in a mule-like or wiggly fashion to imitate a creature of small agony. Once the frogfish are able to bring their prey close enough, they are able to catch their prey within six-thousandths of a second.

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