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Lophius piscatorius Linnaeus, 1758

Angler
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Lophius piscatorius   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Lophius piscatorius
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Lophiiformes (Anglerfishes) > Lophiidae (Goosefishes)
Etymology: Lophius: Greek, lophos = crest (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 20 - 1000 m (Ref. 6302). Deep-water; 75°N - 30°N, 28°W - 46°E (Ref. 54568)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: south-western Barents Sea to Strait of Gibraltar including the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Reported from Iceland (Ref. 4712) and Mauritania (Ref. 5377). North Atlantic specimens attain larger sizes than those collected off West Africa and they also occur in shallower depths.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 55.0, range 35 - 60 cm
Max length : 200 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4712); common length : 100.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4712); max. published weight: 57.7 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 24 years (Ref. 46508)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 12; Anal soft rays: 9 - 10. Peritoneum pale. Head and body depressed. Mouth wide and cavernous. Skin thin and loose, scales absent. Esca bifid, 2 broad, flattened , leaf-like blades. Dorsal spines long, stout and bearing many well-developed tendrils; 4th spine greater than snout width (Ref. 4712).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs on sandy and muddy bottoms from the coast (below 20 m, Ref. 12382) down to depths of 1,000 m. May also be found on rocky bottoms (Ref. 12382). It lies half-buried in the sediment waiting for its prey. It attracts prey by means of its fishing filament (Ref. 5377). Feeds mainly on fishes, occasionally sea-birds. Marketed fresh and frozen; eaten steamed, sautéed, broiled, boiled, fried, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988). It is a well-studied species in Europe and is sold without the skin and the head under the name 'queue de Lotte' (Ref. 5377). Does not adapt well in home aquariums due to its large size (Ref. 12382).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Ho, Hsuan-Ching | Collaborators

Caruso, J.H., 1986. Lophiidae. p. 1362-1363. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Volume 3. Unesco, Paris. (Ref. 4712)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 09 May 2013

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 3.8 - 14.2, mean 7.7 °C (based on 468 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01698 (0.01352 - 0.02134), b=2.91 (2.84 - 2.98), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 11.0 (8.5 - 14.1) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 13 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.07-0.33; tm=4.5-14; tmax=24; Fec=1 million).
Prior r = 0.47, 95% CL = 0.31 - 0.70, Based on 8 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (64 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 10.8 [5.5, 23.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.381 [0.157, 0.847] mg/100g; Protein = 19.9 [16.2, 22.3] %; Omega3 = 0.214 [0.097, 0.481] g/100g; Selenium = 19.7 [7.1, 58.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 4.58 [0.76, 28.24] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.137 [0.073, 0.438] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.