Lasiognathus
2 species
The complete anglerfish (Lasiognathus) is a genus of deep-sea anglerfish in the family Thaumatichthyidae, with six species known from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Its lure apparatus appears to consist of a fishing rod (the projecting basal bone or pteropterygium), a fishing line (the illicium, a modified dorsal fin ray), bait (the bioluminescent esca), and hooks (large dermal denticles). It is also distinctive for an enormous upper jaw with premaxillaries that can be folded down to enclose the much shorter lower jaw.
Lasiognathus species have been collected from widely scattered localities in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. L. beebei is known from the north Atlantic and off Oahu in Hawaiian Islands. L. waltoni is known from the central Pacific, just north of Oahu. L. dinema is known from the northern Gulf of Mexico. L. intermedius is known from the western north Atlantic, the eastern south Pacific, and from off Cape Town, South Africa. L. saccostoma is known from the north Atlantic and off the Hawaiian Islands. L. amphirhamphus is known from off the Madeira Islands in the eastern north Atlantic. Lasiognathus specimens of uncertain species are also known from the north Pacific and the South China Sea. They are pelagic in nature, occurring to a depth of 4,000 m.
The complete anglerfish (Lasiognathus) is a genus of deep-sea anglerfish in the family Thaumatichthyidae, with six species known from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Its lure apparatus appears to consist of a fishing rod (the projecting basal bone or pteropterygium), a fishing line (the illicium, a modified dorsal fin ray), bait (the bioluminescent esca), and hooks (large dermal denticles). It is also distinctive for an enormous upper jaw with premaxillaries that can be folded down to enclose the much shorter lower jaw.
Lasiognathus species have been collected from widely scattered localities in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. L. beebei is known from the north Atlantic and off Oahu in Hawaiian Islands. L. waltoni is known from the central Pacific, just north of Oahu. L. dinema is known from the northern Gulf of Mexico. L. intermedius is known from the western north Atlantic, the eastern south Pacific, and from off Cape Town, South Africa. L. saccostoma is known from the north Atlantic and off the Hawaiian Islands. L. amphirhamphus is known from off the Madeira Islands in the eastern north Atlantic. Lasiognathus specimens of uncertain species are also known from the north Pacific and the South China Sea. They are pelagic in nature, occurring to a depth of 4,000 m.