Antennarius is a genus of anglerfish belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The fishes in this genus are found in warmer parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Antennarius was first proposed as a genus in 1816 by the French naturalist François Marie Daudin with Lophius chironectes being designated as its type species in 1856 by Pieter Bleeker. Lophius chironectes was a binomial authored twice, once by Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1798 and again by Pierre André Latreille in 1804, it is not clear which is the type species of this genus. Catalog of Fishes lists Latreille's name as a synonym of A. pictus and states that this taxon is probably the correct type species. Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Antennariinae within the family Antennariidae.[1] However, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Antennariidae, classifying the family within the suborder Antennarioidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.[2]
Antennarius suffixes -ius to antenna, an allusion to first dorsal spine being adapted into a tentacle on the snout used as a lure to attract prey.[3]
Antennarius contains the following recognised valid species:
| Image | Scientific Name | Common Name | Distribution | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antennarius biocellatus G. Cuvier, 1817 | Brackish-water frogfish | Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomons, the Philippines and Taiwan. | ||
| Antennarius commerson Lacépède, 1798 | Commerson's frogfish | Red Sea and South Africa to Panama, north to southern Japan and the Hawaiian Islands, south to the Lord Howe and the Society islands | ||
| Antennarius hispidus Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801 | Shaggy frogfish | East Africa, India, and Malaysia to the Moluccas, north to Taiwan, south to northern Australia. | ||
| Antennarius indicus L. P. Schultz, 1964 | Indian frogfish | East Africa, Gulf of Aden, and Seychelles to southeast India and Sri Lanka, north to the Gulf of Oman. | ||
| Antennarius maculatus Desjardins, 1840 | Warty frogfish | Maldives and Mauritius to Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. | ||
| Antennarius multiocellatus Valenciennes, 1837 | Longlure frogfish | Bermuda to the Bahamas, throughout the Caribbean, and along the coast of Central America to Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil as far south as Salvador. Antilles | ||
| Antennarius pardalis Valenciennes, 1837 | Leopard frogfish | Senegal to Congo | ||
| Antennarius pauciradiatus L. P. Schultz, 1957 | Dwarf frogfish | Bahamas, off Belize, Colombia, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Tortugas and off the Atlantic coast of Florida. | ||
| Antennarius pictus G. Shaw, 1794 | Painted frogfish | Red Sea and East Africa to the Hawaiian and Society islands. | ||
| Antennarius randalli G. R. Allen, 1970 | Randall's frogfish | Japan,Taiwan, Philippines, Moluccas, Fiji, Marshall Islands and Easter Island. | ||
| Antennarius scaber Cuvier, 1817 | Western Atlantic. Off the coast of New Jersey (USA), Bermuda, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico and throughout the island groups of the Caribbean to the southernmost coast of Brazil. | |||
| Antennarius striatus G. Shaw, 1794 | Striated frogfish | African coast, from Senegal to Southwest Africa, with a single record from St. Helena. Red Sea and the East African coast to the Society and Hawaiian islands, north to Japan, south to Australia and New Zealand. |
Antennarius frogfishes have a slightly compressed rather globose body. The head has no spines on it, the eyes are located on the sides of the head and there is a large upwardly pointing mouth with numerous small teeth. The illicium has a distinct esca, or lure, and if there are spinule these are either at the base or along the front edge. The third dorsal spine is movable and is not embedded in the skin. These is a small round gill opening, to the rear and underneath the base of the pectoral fin, these are limb-like with a joint which resembles an elbow and the base is broadly joined to the body. They have a caudal peduncle but this is not connected to the dorsal and anal fin. The pelvic fins are short, with 5 fin rays, 4 simple and one branched. The rough skin on the bodyhas a covering ov closely set bifurcated spinules.[4] The largest species in the genus is Commerson's frogfish (A. commerson) which has a maximum published total length, while the smallest is Randall's frogfish (A. randalli) with a maximum standard length of .
Antennarius frogfishes are cosmopolitan in coastal waters in tropical and subtropical oceans, although they are most diverse in the Indo-West Pacific region. One species, A. biocellatus, is often found in brackish, or even fresh, waters but they are mostly marine, largely in shallow water and are found on a variety of substrates.[5]