Lophius

Members of the genus Lophius, also sometimes called monkfish, goosefish, fishing-frogs, frog-fish, and sea-devils, are well known off the coasts of Europe generally, the grotesque shape of its body and its singular habits having attracted the attention of naturalists of all ages. To the North Sea fishermen this fish is known as the "monk," or "monkfish", a name which also belongs to Squatina squatina, the angelshark, a fish allied to the skates (see monkfish for discussion). The north European species is L. piscatorius, the Mediterranean species L. budegassa. Two specific species of Lophius are black (L. budegrassa) and white (''L. piscatorius'') anglerfish. Both species live in shallow, inshore waters from 800m to deeper waters (greater than 1000m) These two species are very similar to one another with only a few distinctions between them. These include; the colour of the peritoneum (black for L. budegassa and white for L. piscatorius) and the number of rays in the second dorsal fin (L. budegassa, 9-10 and L. piscatorius, 11-12). There are also minor differences in their distribution. Black anglerfish tend to have a more southern distribution (Mediterranean and Eastern North Atlantic from the British Isles to Senegal) whereas the white anglerfish are distributed further north, (Mediterranean, Black Sea and Eastern North Atlantic from Barents Sea to the Straits of Gibraltar). Despite these differences, the overall distribution of the black and white anglerfish tend to severely overlap. A map of the distribution of anglerfish in the waters surrounding Europe and North Africa can be found in the external links section. The movements of both species of anglerfish indicate that there is a mixing of both northern and southern species which could have strong implications for the geographical boundaries of the stocks from a management perspective. Both species of Lophius are important because they are commercially valuable species that are usually caught by trawl and gillnetting fleets. Thus, it is important to understand and map the distribution of these species to ensure they do not become victims of overfishing.