Author: Linnaeus, 1758
Lophius piscatorius Linnaeus, 1758
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Lophius piscatorius Linnaeus, 1758 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: dorsal finrays VI + 11-12; esca (fleshy appendage at end of first dorsal spine) bifid, composed of 2 broad, flattened, leaf-like blades; dorsal spines II-VI long, stout and bearing numerous well-developed tendrils; length of fourth dorsal spine greater than snout width; anal finrays 9-10. Peritoneum pale. Size: to 2 m, usually 1 m SL.
Habitat: benthic, from shallow, inshore waters to 500 m. Food: nekton, mainly fishes, occasionally sea-birds. Reproduction: spawning February-July.
Distribution: Mediterranean, Black Sea, eastern North Atlantic from Straits of Gibraltar to south-western Barents Sea.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Günther, 1861:190-195, pl. X (fig. C-E) | A. Agassiz, 1882: 280 285, pl. XVI (fig. 2-5), pl. XVII (fig. 1-7), pl. XVIII (fig. 1-3) (L. americanus) | A. Agassiz and Whitman, 1885: 16-18, pl. VI (fig. 1-10) (L. americanus) | McIntosh and Prince, 1890: passim, 869-870, pl. XIX (fig. 6) | Prince, 1891: 343-348, pl. XIV-XV | McIntosh and Wasterman, 1897: 149-155, pl. VI (fig. 3-6) | Holt, 1899: 36 | Fulton, 1903: passim | Griffini, 1903: fig. 243 | Gill, 1905: 509- 514, fig. 96-102 (from Agassiz), 103 (from Rüppell) | Ehrenbaum, 1905: 146-150, fig. 19a-c (from Agassiz and Whitman), d-e, g-h (from Agassiz), f (from Prince) | Williamson, 1910: 46-47, pl. 2 (fig. 2, 6, 9-10, 15) |Stiasny, 1911:1-18, pl. I (13 fig.); 1915: 1-6, pl. I (fig. 1-4) (could be L. budegassa, fide Padoa, 1956: 887- 888) | E. Le Danois, 1913: 164, fig. 319 | Connolly, 1920 11-13, fig. 6-13+13a (from Fulton, Agassiz, Prince and orig.) | Bowman, 1920: 1-42, pl. I-V (col., excel-lent) | Tåning, 1923: 5-16, fig. 1-12 | Lebour, 1925: 722-728, fig. 1-8 | Vodjanitzki and Kazanova, 1954: 293-294, fig. 42 (5 fig.) | Padoa, 1956: 878-885, fig. 780-785 (780 784 from Tåning) and pl. L (fig. 3-10) | Bini, 1968, 8:1 fig. (p. 144).
Otoliths (sagitta). Breschet, 1838: pl. VI (fig. 4b) | Retzius, 1881: 61, pl. IX (fig. 2) | Scott, 1906: 57, pl. IIIB (fig. 61-62), pl. IV (fig. 31), pl. V (fig. 19)| Frost, 1930: 624, pl. XXIII (fig. 10) | Chaine and Duvergier, 1934: 239-246, pl. XIII (upper fig.).