1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, the production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Boga bam here. Anglerfish have got an 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: angle all right, but it's probably not to win anyone 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: over with their intensely toothy looks. Or rather, their end 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: game is to attract their prey using a form of 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: fishing known as angling. Oh we're an angle, which is 7 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: a sort of bony hook. Protrusion is used to lure 8 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: in and catch an unsuspecting fish. That's right, just like 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: a fisherman sitting with a pole in hand. Anglerfish do 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: indeed fish, except they do it from the ocean floor. 11 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: No tackle boxer bait needed. The carnivorous female anglerfish wait 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: patiently in the depths of the sparsely populated deep sea 13 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: to literally lure in their next meal. They wiggle and 14 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: angle a rod like extension of their dorsal spine that 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: protrudes from their head and amidst light. Once their prey 16 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: comes close, the female strikes and stags them, using her large, 17 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: pointy teeth to chomp them up, even if they're up 18 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: to twice her size and in. Scientists captured images of 19 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: a female with numerous thin filaments extending from her body 20 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: In addition to her main dorsal appendage, these filaments also 21 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: emit light, creating a bioluminescent web of whiskers to attract 22 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: and surround their prey. Some species of anglerfish live in 23 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: more shallow tropical waters, but the ones that pique the 24 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: interests of scientists are those that live in the deep, 25 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: murky depths of the ocean, some as deep as sixteen 26 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: thousand feet or five thousand meters. For the article this 27 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: episode is based on how Stuff Work. Spoke via email 28 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: with Ted Pich, a professor at the School of Aquatic 29 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington and author 30 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: of Oceanic Anglerfish is Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea 31 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: and whose name I hope I pronounced correctly. He's been 32 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: studying the elusive anglerfish almost his entire career. He said, 33 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: there are about a hundred and sixty six species so far, 34 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: but new ones are still coming up. They live so 35 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: deep that we don't really have a good idea of 36 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: how big they actually get. We send nets down to 37 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: collect them, and the deeper we go, the larger specimens 38 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: come up. But how do they manage to stay so 39 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: close to the ocean floor at such depths. Pich shares 40 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: that most anglerfish, along with some other deep sea fish, 41 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: don't have a swim bladder. That's the gas filled sack 42 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: that helps many fish stay afloat without the need to 43 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: constantly swim. The lack of a swim bladder not only 44 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: helps anglerfish stay near the bottom, it also conserves energy, 45 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: energy that's at a premium given the difficulty of finding 46 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: a meal so far down. Female anglerfish are definitely running 47 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: the deep sea show, Piche explained. Most females aren't much 48 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: larger than your fist, but other species are close to 49 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: four feet that's one point two meters long. A male 50 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: angler fish, on the other hand, is usually an inch 51 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: two and a half centimeter are so long in the 52 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: most extreme cases, the female is sixty times the length 53 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: and about half a million times as heavy as the male. 54 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: The male, who has no way to feed itself, must 55 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: rely completely on the female for survival. A male will 56 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: actually merge with a female, not because they're in love, 57 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: a Piche said. They the males have tiny pincher like 58 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: teeth on the tip of their snout and they bite 59 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: on to the female. The blood flow from the female 60 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: to the male provides the nutrients if they don't find 61 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: a female their toast. The scientists believe the female emits 62 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: alluring pheromones that the male can sniff out with his 63 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: proportionately large nostrils. Their relationship really is quite unique. A 64 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: Pipe said, these are the only animals in the world 65 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: that attach permanently and exchange fluid. Scientists note that the 66 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: size difference is a survival mechanism that allows them to 67 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: thrive on the limited deep sea menu. If they were 68 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: both large, it would take a whole lot more food 69 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: and enter g to keep them alive and keep their 70 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: unique reproductive cycle going. While the female has to carry 71 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: the little guy around and keep him fed, she's also 72 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: getting a pretty good deal out of it too. There's 73 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: no need to put herself out there to attract a 74 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: loyal partner. She's got a sperm bank or two, or 75 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: three or even six available to fertilize her eggs. Luckily, 76 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: for anglerfish and the ecosystem, you won't find them making 77 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: an appearance on anyone's dinner plate. And it's not just 78 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: because they're elusive and scary to look at. Piche says, 79 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: they're fatty and oily composition wouldn't make for a very 80 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: tasty meal. Well, that is, unless you're talking to a 81 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: sperm whale. Anglerfish remains have been found in whale stomachs 82 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: and they seem to be the main predator of the 83 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: larger anglerfish species. While it's extremely challenging to find angler 84 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 1: fish and there's still somewhat of a mystery, scientists are 85 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 1: entering a new realm of studying their behavior, and while 86 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: scary looking teeth and dismaying face may not look appealing 87 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: to most of us humans, they continue to light up 88 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: the deep sea, attracting an oh so lucky male anglerfish 89 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: right along with their next deep sea dinner. Today's episode 90 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: is based on the article the deep Ocean anglerfish catches 91 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: Prey with the Lure on its Head on how stuff 92 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: works dot Com, written by Katie Carmen. Brain Stuff is 93 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio and partnership with how stuff 94 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four 95 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, 96 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.