Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea
Theodore Pietsch, Enrique Lessa, and Jorge Salazar-Bravo
Abstract
No environment on Earth imposes greater physical and biological constraints on life than the deep oceanic midwaters. Near-freezing temperatures, the absence of sunlight, enormous pressure, and a low food supply make habitation by any living thing almost inconceivable. Yet 160 species of anglerfishes are found there in surprising profusion. Monstrous in appearance, anglerfishes possess a host of unique and spectacular morphological, behavioral, and physiological innovations. This book delivers a comprehensive summary of all that is known about anglerfishes—morphology, diversity, evolution, geog ... More
No environment on Earth imposes greater physical and biological constraints on life than the deep oceanic midwaters. Near-freezing temperatures, the absence of sunlight, enormous pressure, and a low food supply make habitation by any living thing almost inconceivable. Yet 160 species of anglerfishes are found there in surprising profusion. Monstrous in appearance, anglerfishes possess a host of unique and spectacular morphological, behavioral, and physiological innovations. This book delivers a comprehensive summary of all that is known about anglerfishes—morphology, diversity, evolution, geographic distribution, bioluminescence, and reproduction.
Keywords:
anglerfishes,
anglerfish,
deep ocean,
morphology,
diversity,
evolution,
geographic distribution,
bioluminescence,
reproduction
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2009 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780520255425 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: March 2012 |
DOI:10.1525/california/9780520255425.001.0001 |
