So the other night, my son asks me about this fish he saw in Finding Nemo. Normally I might not share such a tale, because it’s probably only memorable to our family – but the answers found from this innocent question were pretty impressive indeed.
You see, the alleged fish has a light on it’s head and huge fangs. I don’t know about you, but I’d never heard of such a beast. In fact, I thought it sounded like someone had been having a little fun in the animation room. I even made the mistake of mentioning that it might not be completely real!
You can imagine my surprise when I finally found a picture of the fish in question. That’s a freaky fish indeed, and it seems that very little imagination would be necessary to get this fellow looking like a scary fish!
So I looked around some more and found all sorts of information, including this little tidbit that seems to provide all the information you might need (sorry, link died). You see, apparently this vicious beast is the female of the species! And you thought human women were bad! Luckily they only live at depths of 1,600 to 10,000 feet!
The luminous organ on her head actually attracts her prey. She can vibrate the thing, too, presumably to attract prey if they’re blind. The worst part is that the male of the species lives only to bond himself to the body of the female and provide his seed so that the species may continue. He’s also a lot smaller and not quite as strange looking!
Comments
215 responses to “The Angler Fish”
It’s an angler, please do your research before commenting on the net. Sigh, if you actually looked at the above links that everyone advertised, you would see it’s an angler fish. We just made her a bit scary. They really don’t move like that, I should know, I researched her and then drew her.
Dori is a Blue Tang or better known to Aquarium owners who have them as a “Hippo Tang”.
Ang,
I understand your comments above. The “dumbing down” I speak of goes way beyond an anglerfish many fathoms below the sea. With you being a young lass or lad (23) you will understand what I am talking about as you begin to put a few more wise years on yourself. Obviously you have the curiosity to learn while some others don’t. I applaud you for that. Everyone above had the curiosity to learn about the anglerfish. My whole point is why did it take a Pixar animated “super” cartoon to create the curiosity? Watch the discovery channel or Nova on PBS, read, do more with your mind than just rely on fictional movies or other media, it’s just that simple.
I don’t think America is dumbing down. Many people have just never heard of this fish before, so they never knew to look for it. It doesn’t mean that they haven’t looked for other fish or other exciting things. That’s why we are all here…to learn. 😉 Lastly, weather it’s an Angler, Lantern, Viper, or “whatever” fish, look at how much we have learned just out of our curiosity. I now know about all these fish, including the fangtooth and others. Thanks for all of the great info.
By the way, I believe it’s an Angler fish, it not only says in commentary, but in scene selection. Also, when I was about 5, (I’m 23 now) my father bought me a book called the ABC’s of Nature, I saw that fish and could never forget it. (Who could?) So when I saw Nemo, I knew what it was. I was proud to know what it was, and came online to learn more. And who’s to say, there are so many different creatures and species down in the depths of the abyss that we don’t even know about. One species of the Angler could be out there just like the one in Finding Nemo. Thanks for the great site!
DougK,
You make a good point above. But just in case you REALLY wanted to know, the fish at the end of the movie is a Gobi Fish. Being a certified diver, I see tons of them when I go on trips. Oh and yes angels, blue and yellow tangs, clowns, octopus, green turtles, parrotfish, green moray eels, stingrays, sea stars (not starfish), puffer fish, anenome, tons of coral and even a rock fish (very poisonous). And yes you are right the movie is a work of fiction to make us all laugh and have a good time. Amazing how everyone above became so passionate on identifying the anglerfish in the movie. I can’t believe it took seeing a strange animated creature in a movie to prompt people to educate themselves. People should really know more than they do these days. Sadly, the dumbing down of America has begun.
I wonder what kind of fish the little green fish that eats the Angler in the very end is? Its after the end credits. I mean, the angler is maybe 100x bigger than the lil green guy, but the lil green guy swallows the Angler in ONE bite. Not only that, but after its meal, the lil green guy is back down to the same size as before. talk about Metabolism…..this fish could be worth studying…..diet development…..just think, eat 100X your weight in food and not gain an ounce. (If you couldn’t tell, the point I’m making is that this movie is a work of fiction, and not neccessarily factual, although many of the fish are based off of real life. Look at the lil octopus thing…..thought they had longer tentacles…And on the DVD…CH 11: Anglerfish 🙂
Oh my Gosh!! your website is great! To tell you the truth, the only reason i went looking for the Angler Fish on the Internet is because i saw it on Finding Nemo!!! You have an amazing site!
It was an angler fish in finding nemo. I know this first by saying that the fish in finding nemo was a fishlike shape. Viperfish are snakelike and have their lure start a bit longer along their body. I know this because I am kind of obsessed in the fish which live in the Abyssal zone (the zone in the ocean where it is ice cold, pitch black, extremely high pressure and from 6000 ft to just above the ocean floor) and I am particularly intrested in the angler. Usualy, the viperfish is always a page or two near the anglerfish.
Alrite! This rules! Not only did I find out about Angler fish but I finally found out what kind of fish Dori is, which is what I was looking for in the first place…
Hi
I also thought that Finding Nemo was an excellent movie not only in plot but ininformation.I am a 4th grade teacher and I took aside one class to talk about each of the fish mentioned in Finding Nemo. Your info has helped my class of 8 and 9 year olds to understand sea life a little better!
Elizabeth McEnroe