Members of the genus ''Lophius'', also sometimes called monkfish, fishing-frogs, frog-fish, and sea-devils, are various species of lophiid

anglerfish The anglerfish are ray-finned fish in the order Lophiiformes (). Both the order's common name, common and scientific name comes from the characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified dorsal Fish fin#Ray-fins, fin ray acts as a Aggressiv ...

es found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. ''Lophius'' is known as the "monk" or "monkfish" to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

and

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

fishermen, a name which also belongs to ''

Squatina squatina ''Squatina squatina'', the angelshark or monkfish, is a species of shark in the family (biology), family Squatinidae (known generally also as angel sharks), that were once widespread in the coastal waters of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. We ...

'', the

angelshark Angel sharks are sharks belonging to the genus ''Squatina''. They are the only living members of the family Squatinidae and order Squatiniformes. They commonly inhabit sandy seabeds close to in depth. ''Squatina'' and other Squatiniformes d ...

, a type of

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

. The North European species is ''

Lophius piscatorius ''Lophius piscatorius'', commonly known as the anglerfish, frog fish, fishing frog, monk, European angler, common monkfish, sea devil, or devil fish, is a monkfish in the family Lophiidae. It is found in coastal waters of the northeast Atlantic ...

'', and the Mediterranean species is ''

Lophius budegassa ''Lophius budegassa'', the blackbellied angler or blackbellied monkfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lophiidae, the goosefishes, monkfishes and anglers. This species is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and th ...

''.

Taxonomy

''Lophius'' was first proposed as a genus by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

when he described ''Lophius piscatorius'' in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' given as "''in Oceano Europæo''", meaning the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and Black Seas with localities mentioned including

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in France;

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in Italy;

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

in Greece; and Syria. The genus ''Lophius'' is one of 4 extant genera in the family Lophiidae which the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' classifies in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

Lophioidei Goosefishes, sometimes called anglers or monkfishes, are a family, the Lophiidae, of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. The family includes 30 recognized species. These fishes are found in all the ...

within the order Lophiiformes. Within the Lophiidae ''Lophius'' is most closely related to ''

Lophiomus ''Lophiomus'' is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family, Lophiidae, the goose fishes, monkfishes or anglers. The only species in the genus is ''Lophiomus setigerus'', the blackmouth angler, blackmouth goosefish, b ...

'' with ''

Lophiodes ''Lophiodes'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Lophiidae, the goosefishes, monkfishes and anglers. It is one of four extant genera in the family Lophiidae. The fish in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian a ...

being the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to these and with '' Sladenia'' as the most basal sister group to the other three genera.

Etymology

''Lophius'' means "mane" and is presumably a reference to the first three spines of the first dorsal fin which are tentacle like, with three smaller spines behind them.

Species

The seven recognized extant species in this genus are:

Description

''Lophius'' monkfishes are characterised by having highly compressed heads and bodies. The frontal ridges have a covering of low, blunt knobs or cross ridges. There is a large spine on the

parietal bone The parietal bones ( ) are two bones in the skull which, when joined at a fibrous joint known as a cranial suture, form the sides and roof of the neurocranium. In humans, each bone is roughly quadrilateral in form, and has two surfaces, four bord ...

and there are spines on the lower

quadrate bone The quadrate bone is a skull bone in most tetrapods, including amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, birds), and early synapsids. In most tetrapods, the quadrate bone connects to the quadratojugal and squamosal bones in the skull, and forms up ...

. The soft-rayed portion of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

has between 9 and 12 rays and the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

has between 8 and 10 rays. The gill opening reaches below and to the rear of the base of the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

. There are 6 dorsal spines, those on the head are well developed but those behind the head are very small. There are two well-developed spines on the sphenotic bone and one on the epiotic bone. There is a single spine on the joint at the front of the jaw joint and a single interopercular spine. The humeral spine is also well-developed and has 2 or 3 smaller spines on it. The largest species in the genus is the angler ('' L. piscatorius''), with a maximum published

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

of , while the smallest is the blackfin goosefish ('' L. gastrophysus'') with a maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of .

Reproduction

The spawn of this genus consists of a thin sheet of transparent gelatinous material wide and in length. The eggs in this sheet are in a single layer, each in its own little cavity. The spawn is free in the sea. The larvae are free-swimming and have pelvic fins with elongated filaments.

Habitat

The East Atlantic species is found along the coasts of Europe but becomes scarce beyond 60°N latitude; it also occurs on the coasts of the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

. The species caught on the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n side of the Atlantic is usually '' Lophius americanus''. A third species (''Lophius budegassa''), inhabits the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, and a fourth (''L. setigerus'') the coasts of

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The black (''L. budegassa'') and white ('' L. piscatorius'')

both live in deep, inshore waters from to deeper waters (greater than ). These two species are very similar, with only a few distinctions between them. These include the colour of the

peritoneum The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mesotheli ...

(black for ''L. budegassa'' and white for ''L. piscatorius'') and the number of rays in the second dorsal fin (''L. budegassa'', 9–10 and ''L. piscatorius'', 11–12). Also, minor differences in their distribution occur. Black anglerfish tend to have a more southern distribution (Mediterranean and eastern North Atlantic from the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

). In contrast, the white anglerfish are distributed further north (Mediterranean,

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

and eastern North Atlantic from the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

to the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

). Despite these differences, the overall distribution of the black and white anglerfish tend to overlap greatly. A map of the distribution of anglerfish in the waters surrounding Europe and North Africa can be found in the external links section. The movements of both species of anglerfish indicate mixing of both northern and southern species could have strong implications for the geographical boundaries of the stocks from a management perspective.

Commercial use

Two species, ''

'' and ''

'', found in north-western Europe are referred to as monkfish, with ''L. piscatorius'' by far the most common species around the British Isles and of major fishery interest. Under UK Labelling Regulations, the phrase "monkfish" is only permitted for '' Lophiodes caulinaris'', '' Lophius americanus'', ''

'' and ''

''. Both species of ''Lophius'' are important because they are commercially valuable species usually caught by trawl and

gillnetting Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

fleets. Concern is expressed over the sustainability of monkfish fishing. The method most commonly used to catch monkfish, beam trawling, has been described as damaging to seafloor habitats. In February 2007, the British supermarket chain

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

banned monkfish from their stores.

References

External links

*
Monkfish facts, Maryland Department of Natural Resources

NOAA Monkfish Research Program

Map of Anglerfish distribution
{{Authority control Ray-finned fish genera Commercial fish Extant Lutetian first appearances Marine fish genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Lutetian genus first appearances