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Deep-sea Anglerfish Larva — printable fact sheet
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Deep-sea Anglerfish Larva
Melanocetus johnsonii
The deep-sea anglerfish is famous for the glowing lure suspended above its jaws, and the light is not its own. The bulb at the tip of that modified fin spine houses a colony of bioluminescent bacteria, which the fish farms — supplying nutrients in exchange for light it can twitc…
Did you know?
- Male anglerfish larvae never develop the bioluminescent lure and, as adults, become tiny parasites permanently attached to females.
- The glowing lure is not the fish's own light — it farms bioluminescent bacteria inside the bulb and feeds them. Its stomach can stretch around prey larger than itself, because in the deep sea the next meal may be a long way off. In many species the tiny male permanently fuses to the female, merging bloodstreams until he is little more than a sperm sac. To allow that, anglerfish have dismantled parts of their adaptive immune system.
What I learned
Draw the deep-sea anglerfish larva
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