Frogfish

The frogfish is a master of disguise and looks like an overgrown sponge. It stalks over the bottom on leg-like fins. On its head it carries a tiny fishing rod with a lure, which it uses to draw prey close and then swallows it in a flash.

For scientists

The frogfish (Antennariidae) carries a movable rod (illicium) as its first dorsal ray, tipped with a lure (esca) that it wiggles like a prey animal. Its mouth can expand up to twelvefold in a few milliseconds, one of the fastest strikes in the animal kingdom. With modified, foot-like pectoral fins it clambers over the bottom.

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