Lophius americanus
FAMILY
Lophiidae
TAXONOMY
Lophius americanus Curvier and Valenciennes in Valenciennes,
1837, North America.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Goosefish, anglerfish.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Like most lophiid anglerfishes, the monkfish is distinguished
easily from other anglerfishes by its very large, wide, flattened
head. Lophiids also have an enormous mouth armed with long,
sharp, conical teeth, and the angling apparatus and second dorsal
fin spine arise very close to each other at the anterior end
of the snout. The monkfish has a number of derived character
states, among which are increased numbers of dorsal and anal
fin rays and vertebrae, gill openings restricted to a location
completely behind the pectoral fin base, and a variety of cranial
osteological features. The monkfish is distinguished from its
congeners by several morphological characters.
DISTRIBUTION
The monkfish is known to occur from the Grand Banks off Newfoundland
south to the east coast of Florida (about 29° N latitude)
and from just below the tide line (only at high latitudes) to depths
of more than 2,625 ft (800 m). However, few large individuals are
taken below 1,312 ft (400 m). This is the only member of the
genus found in the western Atlantic north of Cape Hatteras.
HABITAT
Adult monkfish have been found on soft and hard substrates
including soft mud, soft sand, hard sand, pebbles, gravel, and
broken shells.
BEHAVIOR
Most of what is known about lophiid
BEHAVIOR
comes from observations
of the monkfish and another species, Lophius piscatorius;
general aspects of this
BEHAVIOR
are described earlier, in
the ordinal account. Aristotle made the very first observations
of angling
BEHAVIOR
. He described them as having hairlike filaments
hung before their eyes, with knobs attached like bait to
the end of each filament. When little fishes come in range of
the filaments and strike at them, they are led down with the
filaments into the monkfish’s mouth. Such observations were
not recorded again until 1925, when Bigelow and Welsh reported
the observations of W. F. Clapp, who observed monkfish
catching young tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) in the eelgrass
beds of Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Like all lophiiform anglerfishes, monkfishes are voracious ambush
predators. Their diet consists primarily of fishes, and
when given a choice, they prefer soft-rayed fishes to spinyrayed
species. When the opportunity presents itself, however,
they take any prey large enough to engulf. This includes fishes
nearly as long as itself. The alternate name goosefish alludes to
the fact that the monkfish has been known to engulf marine
birds when it enters shallow coastal waters at high latitudes
during the winter months. (Cormorants, herring gulls, widgeons,
scoters, loons, guillemots, razor-billed auks, grebes, and
other diving fowl, such as scaup ducks and mergansers, have all
been recorded as stomach contents.) Smaller monkfishes are
known to feed on a wide variety of invertebrates, including
small lobsters, crabs, squid, and polychaetes.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
As mentioned earlier, the monkfish is one of the few lophiid
species for which detailed life history information is available.
Long, mucoid egg veils are characteristic of this species.
CONSERVATION STATUS
During the latter few decades of the twentieth century, the
popularity of monkfish increased steadily in U. S. markets. Because
the liver also is highly sought by the Japanese market,
fishing pressure on this species has resulted in overexploitation.
Fortunately, this species has received some protection from the
U. S. National Marine Fisheries Service. This species is not
listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
As Lophius americanus has gained popularity with consumers in
the United States and there is strong demand for it in the
Japanese market, this species has tremendous economic importance.
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