The Garden of Learning

Geography

Which deep-sea fish lures prey with a glowing rod?

  • The anglerfish
  • The viperfish
  • The hatchetfish

The answer is The anglerfish. Bioluminescent bait.

Anglerfish

The anglerfish are ray-finned fish in the order Lophiiformes. Both the order's common and scientific name comes from the characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified dorsal fin ray acts as a lure for prey. The modified fin ray, with the very tip being the esca and the length of the structure the illicium, is adapted to attract specific prey items across the families of anglerfish by using different luring methods.

Wikipedia · Anglerfish