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Frogfishes are any member of the anglerfish family Antennariidae, of the order Lophiiformes. Antennariids are known as anglerfish in Australia, where the term "frogfish" refers to members of the unrelated family Batrachoididae. Frogfishes are found in almost all tropical and subtropical oceans and seas around the world, the primary exception being the Mediterranean Sea.
Frogfishes are small, short and stocky, and sometimes covered in and other appendages to aid in camouflage. The camouflage aids in protection from predators and enables them to lure prey. Many species can change colour; some are covered with other organisms, such as algae or hydrozoa. In keeping with this camouflage, frogfishes typically move slowly, lying in wait for prey, and then striking extremely rapidly, in as little as 6 milliseconds.
Few traces of frogfishes remain in the fossil record, though Fowlerichthys monodi is known from the Miocene of Algeria, and a number of species are known from the Eocene of Italy.
Subfamily Antennariinae Jarocki 1822 (Fibonacci frogfishes)
Subfamily Brachionichthyinae Theodore Gill, 1863 (handfishes)
Subfamily Fowlerichthyinae Maile et al., 2025 (fanfin frogfishes)
Subfamily Histiophryninae Arnold & Pietsch, 2012 (starfingered frogfishes)
Subfamily Lophichthyinae Marinus Boeseman, 1964 (lophichthyin frogfishes)
Subfamily Rhycherinae Hart et al., 2022 (Balrog frogfishes)
Subfamily Tathicarpinae Hart et al., 2022 (longfin frogfishes)
Subfamily Tetrabrachiinae Regan, 1912 (tetrabrachiin frogfishes)
= Extinct
The division of the family into multiple subfamilies is a recent treatment, as previously the Handfish, the Lophichthyinae, and the Tetrabrachiidae were treated as their own families. Histiophryninae was described as its own family in 2012. In 2022, these four families were found to be Paraphyly with respect to the former treatment of Antennariidae, and due to this, Rhycherinae and Tathicarpinae (both previously placed in Antennariidae) were uplifted to their own families. A 2025 phylogenetic study combining Ultra-Conserved Elements (UCE)s, mitochondrial DNA, and morphological data found even this treatment to be paraphyletic, with Fowlerichthys being recognized as a distinct clade. However, to avoid taxonomic oversplitting, it was described as a distinct subfamily instead, and the Brachionichthyidae, Histiophrynidae, Lophichthyidae, Rhycheridae, Tathicarpidae, and Tetrabrachiidae were downgraded to subfamilies within the Antennariidae. The frogfishes were also treated as a single family under an interpretive classification of the Actinopterygii in 2024.
The most basal member of the family is thought to be the Fowlerichthyinae.
A few exceptions to these general limits are known. The brackishwater frogfish is at home in ocean waters as well as brackish and fresh water around . The sargassum fish lives in clumps of drifting sargassum, which often floats into the deeper ocean and has been known to take the sargassum fish as far north as Norway.
Antennarioidei fishes are characterised by the first dorsal fin being made up of three separate spines on the head, the first being the illicium with the second sometimes being short, although this spine is not ever embedded within the skin. The Pterygiophore of the first dorsal spine and the third dorsal spine have highly compressed dorsal expansions. The Hyoid arch has a central backwards directed process that touches the preoperculum. (2025). 9781118342336, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118342336
Rather than typical , the front-most of the three fins is called the illicium or "rod" and is topped with the esca or "lure". The illicium often has striped markings, while the esca takes a different form in each species. Because of the variety of colours even within a single species, the esca and illicium are useful tools to differentiate among different varieties. Diving with Frogfish Dive the World 2009 Some of them resemble fish, some shrimp, some , some tubeworms, and some simply a formless lump; one genus, Echinophryne, has no esca at all. Despite very specific mimicry in the esca, examinations of stomach contents do not reveal any specialized predation for example, only worm-eating fish consumed by frogfishes with worm-mimicking esca. If lost, the esca can be regenerated. In many species, the illicium and esca can be withdrawn into a depression between the second and third dorsal fins for protection when they are not needed. Frogfish Factsheet Shedd Aquarium Explore by Animal 2009
Frogfish have small, round gill openings behind their . With the exception of Butler's frogfish and the rough anglerfish, frogfish use a gas bladder to control their buoyancy.
For the scaleless and unprotected frogfish, camouflage is an important defense against predators. Some species can also inflate themselves, like pufferfish, by sucking in water in a threat display.Lloyd, Robin Crawling fish accepted as new species NBC News In aquaria and in nature, frogfish have been observed, when flushed from their hiding spots and clearly visible, to be attacked by clownfish, damselfish, and , and in aquaria, to be killed.
Many frogfishes can change their colour. The light colours are generally yellows or yellow-browns, while the darker are green, black, or dark red. They usually appear with the lighter color, but the change can last from a few days to several weeks. What triggers the change is unknown.
In open water, frogfishes can swim with strokes of the caudal fin. They also use jet propulsion, often used by younger frogfish. It is achieved by rhythmically gulping water and forcing it out through their gill openings, also called opercular openings, which lie behind their pectoral fins.
The sargassum frogfish has adapted fins which can grab strands of sargassum, enabling it to "climb" through the seaweed.
Slow-motion filming has shown that the frogfish sucks in its prey in just six milliseconds, so fast that other animals cannot see it happen.
During the free-spawning courtship ritual, the male swims beside and somewhat behind the female, nudges her with his mouth, then remains near her cloaca. Just before the spawning, the female begins to swim above the ocean floor toward the surface. At the highest point of their swim, they release the eggs and sperm before descending. Sometimes, the male pulls the eggs out of the female with his mouth. After mating, the partners depart quickly as otherwise the smaller male would likely be eaten. A few species are substrate-spawners, notably the genera Lophiocharon, Phyllophryne, and Rhycherus, which lay their eggs on a solid surface, such as a plant or rock. Some species guard their eggs, a duty assigned to the male in almost all species, while most others do not. Several species practice brood carrying, for example the three-spot frogfish, whose eggs are attached to the male, and those in the genus Histiophryne, whose brood are carried in the pectoral fins.
The eggs are in diameter and cohere in a gelatinous mass or long ribbon, which in sargassumfish are up to a metre (3.3 ft) long and wide. These egg masses can include up to 180,000 eggs. Frogfish spawn on Valentine's Day National Sea Life Center, Birmingham For most species, the eggs drift on the surface. After two to five days, the fish hatch and the newly hatched alevin are between long. For the first few days, they live on the yolk sac while their digestive systems continue to develop. The young have long fin filaments and can resemble tiny, tentacled jellyfish. For one to two months, they live . After this stage, at a length between , they have the form of adult frogfish and begin their lives on the sea floor. Young frogfish often mimic the coloration of poisonous or .
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