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Yawn of the Orange Painted Frogfish

  • carlgwinn
  • 5 minutes ago
  • 1 min read
An orange painted frogfish (Antennarius pictus) opens his mouth wide, revealing a row of sharp white teeth. His lure is visible above his right eye.
Painted Frogfish Antennarius pictus

This orange frogfish yawns as a snack goes down the gullet, beyond those sharp teeth. He was waiting for prey -- until someone blundered by. The small white frilly object, just about where his right eyebrow would be, is his lure, useful for bringing curious small fish into range. I like to think of an image showing the starship Enterprise being sucked into his mouth. Somehow his Latin name, Antennarius pictus, sounds perfect for an alien guest star on the show. However, he is about the size of a hamster.


An orage Painted Frogfish, Antennarius pictus, stares at the photographer. One fin, acting as a foot, holds him on the steep background. His lure is visible as a small treelike growth on his forehead.
Painted Frogfish Antennarius pictus

Now back to waiting for prey, the frogfish goggles at a weird-looking alien--me. His orange coloration stands out outrageously in the image, but at 60 feet depth, without the benefit of the strobe I brought along, his orange is nearly black: no red, orange, or yellow light reaches that depth. His lure is again deployed. It is the tree-shaped structure that appears to be growing out of his forehead--which it is.

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