WEBVTT - How Do Anglerfish Work? 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.360 Welcome to brain Stuff, the production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:10.760 brain Stuff, Lauren Boga bam here. Anglerfish have got an 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.440 angle all right, but it's probably not to win anyone 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:17.720 over with their intensely toothy looks. Or rather, their end 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.279 game is to attract their prey using a form of 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.520 fishing known as angling. Oh we're an angle, which is 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:26.560 a sort of bony hook. Protrusion is used to lure 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:30.680 in and catch an unsuspecting fish. That's right, just like 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.680 a fisherman sitting with a pole in hand. Anglerfish do 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.760 indeed fish, except they do it from the ocean floor. 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:42.320 No tackle boxer bait needed. The carnivorous female anglerfish wait 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.600 patiently in the depths of the sparsely populated deep sea 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.479 to literally lure in their next meal. They wiggle and 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.920 angle a rod like extension of their dorsal spine that 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:57.040 protrudes from their head and amidst light. Once their prey 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.960 comes close, the female strikes and stags them, using her large, 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.520 pointy teeth to chomp them up, even if they're up 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:08.880 to twice her size and in. Scientists captured images of 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:12.360 a female with numerous thin filaments extending from her body 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:16.120 In addition to her main dorsal appendage, these filaments also 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:20.360 emit light, creating a bioluminescent web of whiskers to attract 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:25.360 and surround their prey. Some species of anglerfish live in 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:28.560 more shallow tropical waters, but the ones that pique the 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:31.000 interests of scientists are those that live in the deep, 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:34.280 murky depths of the ocean, some as deep as sixteen 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.480 thousand feet or five thousand meters. For the article this 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.160 episode is based on how Stuff Work. Spoke via email 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.039 with Ted Pich, a professor at the School of Aquatic 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.240 and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington and author 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:51.280 of Oceanic Anglerfish is Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.240 and whose name I hope I pronounced correctly. He's been 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.640 studying the elusive anglerfish almost his entire career. He said, 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.800 there are about a hundred and sixty six species so far, 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.480 but new ones are still coming up. They live so 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:07.440 deep that we don't really have a good idea of 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:10.640 how big they actually get. We send nets down to 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.880 collect them, and the deeper we go, the larger specimens 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:17.520 come up. But how do they manage to stay so 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:20.880 close to the ocean floor at such depths. Pich shares 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:23.960 that most anglerfish, along with some other deep sea fish, 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:28.040 don't have a swim bladder. That's the gas filled sack 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:30.640 that helps many fish stay afloat without the need to 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.520 constantly swim. The lack of a swim bladder not only 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:38.040 helps anglerfish stay near the bottom, it also conserves energy, 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:41.560 energy that's at a premium given the difficulty of finding 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:46.720 a meal so far down. Female anglerfish are definitely running 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:50.680 the deep sea show, Piche explained. Most females aren't much 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.480 larger than your fist, but other species are close to 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:56.720 four feet that's one point two meters long. A male 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:58.880 angler fish, on the other hand, is usually an inch 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.440 two and a half centimeter are so long in the 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.840 most extreme cases, the female is sixty times the length 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.520 and about half a million times as heavy as the male. 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.000 The male, who has no way to feed itself, must 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:15.520 rely completely on the female for survival. A male will 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.840 actually merge with a female, not because they're in love, 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:23.000 a Piche said. They the males have tiny pincher like 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:25.440 teeth on the tip of their snout and they bite 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:28.120 on to the female. The blood flow from the female 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.920 to the male provides the nutrients if they don't find 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:35.880 a female their toast. The scientists believe the female emits 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.680 alluring pheromones that the male can sniff out with his 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:43.840 proportionately large nostrils. Their relationship really is quite unique. A 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.880 Pipe said, these are the only animals in the world 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:51.360 that attach permanently and exchange fluid. Scientists note that the 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.280 size difference is a survival mechanism that allows them to 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.160 thrive on the limited deep sea menu. If they were 0:03:57.160 --> 0:03:59.520 both large, it would take a whole lot more food 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.040 and enter g to keep them alive and keep their 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:06.720 unique reproductive cycle going. While the female has to carry 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:09.520 the little guy around and keep him fed, she's also 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.200 getting a pretty good deal out of it too. There's 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:14.200 no need to put herself out there to attract a 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.240 loyal partner. She's got a sperm bank or two, or 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:23.560 three or even six available to fertilize her eggs. Luckily, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:27.400 for anglerfish and the ecosystem, you won't find them making 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.440 an appearance on anyone's dinner plate. And it's not just 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.760 because they're elusive and scary to look at. Piche says, 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.840 they're fatty and oily composition wouldn't make for a very 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:40.360 tasty meal. Well, that is, unless you're talking to a 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:44.520 sperm whale. Anglerfish remains have been found in whale stomachs 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:46.560 and they seem to be the main predator of the 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:52.960 larger anglerfish species. While it's extremely challenging to find angler 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.280 fish and there's still somewhat of a mystery, scientists are 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:59.799 entering a new realm of studying their behavior, and while 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.400 scary looking teeth and dismaying face may not look appealing 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:05.960 to most of us humans, they continue to light up 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.599 the deep sea, attracting an oh so lucky male anglerfish 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:17.880 right along with their next deep sea dinner. Today's episode 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:20.480 is based on the article the deep Ocean anglerfish catches 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:22.520 Prey with the Lure on its Head on how stuff 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.600 works dot Com, written by Katie Carmen. Brain Stuff is 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.640 production of I Heart Radio and partnership with how stuff 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.320 Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.039 more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.880 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.