Warty Frogfish
| Warty Frogfish | ||||||||||||
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Warty Frogfish ( Antennarius maculatus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Antennarius maculatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Desjardins , 1840) |
The warty frogfish ( Antennarius maculatus ), also known as the clown frogfish because of its colorful design , is a representative of the frogfish (Antennariidae) up to 15 centimeters long . It belongs to a group of closely related species around the painted frogfish ( Antennarius pictus ).
features
As an adult, the warty frogfish is covered with numerous warts. It is usually white or yellow, with irregular rust-red spots and thus resembles a stone or a sponge overgrown by calcareous algae . but there are also green specimens with irregular white markings and round black and yellow spots. Young warty frogfish are brightly colored white, yellow and red and imitate poisonous nudibranch snails with their drawing . They live much less hidden than adult animals. The tang (Illicium) is twice as long as the second ray of the dorsal fin. The bait (esca) resembles a small fish.
distribution
The fish live in the Indo-Pacific , from the Maldives and Mauritius, through the islands of Indonesia and the Philippines to the Solomon Islands . They live in shallow water, at depths of one to fifteen meters in coral reefs .
literature
- Hans A. Baensch , Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 6: Non-Perciformes (non-perch-like). Mergus-Verlag, Melle, ISBN 3-88244-116-X .
