Sea devils are a family of deep-sea anglerfish

Anglerfish

Anglerfishes are members of the teleost order Lophiiformes . They are bony fishes named for their characteristic mode of predation, wherein a fleshy growth from the fish's head acts as a lure; this is considered analogous to angling.Some anglerfishes are pelagic , while others are benthic...

 otherwise known as Ceratiidae from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 keras, "horn", referring to the bioluminescent lure that projects from the fishes' forehead.

They are among the most widespread of the anglerfishes, found in all oceans from the tropics to the Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

. They are large and elongate: females of the largest species, Krøyer's deep sea angler fish

Krøyer's deep sea angler fish

The Krøyer's deep sea angler fish, Ceratias holboelli, is a seadevil of the family Ceratiidae, found in all oceans, at depths of 1,000-2,000 m...

, Ceratias holboelli, reach 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in length. Males, by contrast, are dwarfed, reaching 14 centimetres (5.5 in), and, like other anglerfishes, spend much of their lives attached to a female after a free-living adolescent stage in which they are very small - at most 1.3 centimetre (0.511811023622047 in) - and have sharp, beak-like, toothless jaws. One or more males attach themselves parasitically and permanently to a female, eventually merging circulatory systems. As this genetic chimera

Chimera (genetics)

A chimera or chimaera is a single organism that is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated from different zygotes involved in sexual reproduction. If the different cells have emerged from the same zygote, the organism is called a mosaic...

 matures the males grow large testicles while the rest of their body atrophies. Ceratioidea are the only creatures known to become Chimeras as a normal part of their life-cycle.

Genera and species

• Genus Ceratias
  • Krøyer's deep sea angler fish
    Krøyer's deep sea angler fish
    The Krøyer's deep sea angler fish, Ceratias holboelli, is a seadevil of the family Ceratiidae, found in all oceans, at depths of 1,000-2,000 m...
    
    , Ceratias holboelli Krøyer, 1845.
  • Ceratias tentaculatus (Norman, 1930).
  • Ceratias uranoscopus Murray, 1877.
• Genus Cryptopsaras
  • Triplewart seadevil
    Triplewart seadevil
    The triplewart seadevil, Cryptopsaras couesii, is a seadevil of the family Ceratiidae, found in all oceans, from the surface to 2,000 m. Its length is approximately 30 cm for females and 3 cm for males. They belong to the anglerfish family....
    
    , Cryptopsaras couesii Gill
    Theodore Gill
    Theodore Nicholas Gill was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian.Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural history. He was associated with J...
    
    , 1883.