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Giant Anglerfish

Giant Anglerfish

Antennarius Commersonii

Quick Facts

Scientific nameAntennarius Commersonii

Other namesGiant Frogfish, Black Anglerfish, Commerson's Frogfish

FamilyAnglerfish / Antennaridae

Distribution

Habitat & AU DistributionSponges in lagoons & offshore reefs & reef slopes

The Giant Anglerfish is one of the largest shallow-water anglerfish in the world, growing to about 38 cm long. It is a stocky, fleshy fish that looks more like a lump of reef than an animal.
Its colour is almost impossible to pin down. Individual fish have been found in yellow, orange, tan, pink, red, green, brown and black, and each one tends to match the sponges around it closely.
The body is often covered in low, warty bumps that help break up its outline. Sitting still among sponges on the reef, a Giant Anglerfish can be almost impossible to spot.
In Australia, it is found on tropical and subtropical reefs, and its wider range stretches across the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii and the Pacific islands.
It lives from the shallows down to about 50 m, though most are found in less than 20 m of water. Lagoon reefs, seaward reefs and the pilings under jetties are all places it turns up.
The Giant Anglerfish is a “sit and wait” hunter. It stays perfectly still and waits for prey to come close, rather than chasing it down.
It has a built-in fishing rod. The first spine on its back has been transformed into a long stalk tipped with a small fleshy lure, which it wiggles to attract fish and shrimps.
When prey gets close enough, the Giant Anglerfish opens its huge mouth and sucks the animal in. The strike is so fast it is one of the quickest feeding movements of any vertebrate.
Females release their eggs wrapped in a buoyant, ribbon-like sheet of jelly, often called an egg raft. This floating mass carries the eggs up into the water column, away from the reef.
After hatching, the young spend their first month or two drifting with the plankton before eventually settling back onto the reef to begin their bottom-dwelling life.
Giant Anglerfish are solitary animals. They tend to stay in one spot for days or weeks at a time, wedged among sponges or tucked against a ledge.
Despite its size and striking looks, this species is rarely caught by anglers. It occasionally turns up in the aquarium trade, where its unusual shape and camouflage make it a sought-after display animal.

Species Interaction

Giant Anglerfish: A Diver's Find and a Photographer's Prize

Snorkelling & Diving
Research & Rare Encounters
Ecosystem Role

The Giant Anglerfish draws divers and underwater photographers to Indo-Pacific reefs, where its remarkable camouflage and slow-moving “sit and wait” hunting style make a sighting genuinely memorable. It is not targeted by recreational or commercial fisheries, and there is no known aquarium trade profile in Australia. Researchers studying reef fish behaviour and camouflage do document the species, but most encounters remain opportunistic finds by recreational divers exploring rubble, sponge and coral habitats.

Species
Sustainability

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Lophiiformes
Family: Antennariidae
Genus: Antennarius
Species: Antennarius commerson

Conservation Status

The Giant Anglerfish (Antennarius commerson) has not been assessed by the IUCN Red List, and it holds no listing under Australia’s EPBC Act. It is not a commercially targeted species, and no formal stock assessment exists for Australian waters. Its conservation status remains unevaluated.