Hairy frogfish

Antennarius striatus

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Lophiiformes
Family: Antennariidae
Genus: Antennarius
Species: Antennarius striatus

The hairy frogfish (Antennarius striatus) is a stocky ambush predator covered in fine, hair-like skin filaments that make it look like a clump of algae. Its colour ranges from yellow and orange to white, brown or almost black, usually with darker stripes.

It grows to around 20 cm. On its snout it carries a lure ending in a wiggling, worm-like bait that it twitches to attract small fish, then swallows them in a fraction of a second by suddenly expanding its huge mouth. It can engulf prey nearly as large as itself and 'walks' across the bottom on its arm-like pectoral fins.

The hairy frogfish is found across the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic and is one of the highlights of muck diving in the Philippines, where it is regularly found on black sand and among sponges and debris, often in its striking dark or yellow forms.

Photo: Dan Schofield, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist