Caulophrynidae
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Fanfins
Caulophryne sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Lophiiformes Family: Caulophrynidae
Genera
Caulophryne Robia See text for species.

Fanfins are a family, Caulophrynidae, of anglerfishes. They are found in deep, lightless waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.^[1]

They are distinguished from other anglerfishes by the lack of the expanded escal bulb — the bioluminescent lure at the end of the illicium — and by the very long dorsal and anal fin rays.

As in other anglerfishes, males are very much smaller than the females and, after a larval and adolescent free-living stage, spend the rest of their life parasitically attached to a female.^[2]

Species

There are five species in two genera:

• Genus Caulophryne
  • Caulophryne jordani (Fanfin seadevil) Goode & Bean, 1896.
  • Caulophryne pelagica (Brauer, 1902).
  • Caulophryne pietschi Balushkin & Fedorov, 1985.
  • Caulophryne polynema (Hairy angler)Regan, 1930.
• Genus Robia
  • Robia legula Pietsch, 1979.

References

1. ^ "Caulophrynidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
2. ^ Theodore W. Pietsch (2005). Caulophrynidae. Tree of Life web project. Retrieved on 4 April 2006.