Psychedelic frogfish
Encyclopedia
The psychedelic frogfish, Histiophryne psychedelica, is a yellow-brown or peach colored frogfish
named for its pink and white stripes arranged in a fingerprint
pattern. The fish is from the waters near Ambon Island
and Bali
, Indonesia
.
, Rachel Arnold, and David J. Hall
in the scientific journal
Copeia
, where they described it as having "a remarkable pigment pattern of white swirling stripes", hence their use of the term psychedelic
. The psychedelic frogfish has been known to reach a length of 15 centimetres (5.9 in). The skin of the psychedelic frogfish is flabby and fleshy, like other frogfishes. As a member of the order Lophiiformes, it has no scales. It covers the dorsal and ventral fins of the fish, which aid in camouflaging the fish. The skin may be covered in protective mucus
.
The psychedelic frogfish is different from many other anglerfish
es in that it lacks a luring appendage
on its forehead and pelvic fins and has a flat face with a mouth smaller than that of most anglerfishes and forward-facing eyes
. This unique optical setup allows the fish to utilize the same kind of depth perception
as humans, a trait rarely seen in fish.
The coloring of the skin is a pattern of yellowish brown or peach colored stripes. This pattern covers the entire fish, including its fins, except for the hidden skin that is exposed when the lips are stretched forward, which is pale in color. At the margins, the skin can appear to be turquoise, although the exact nature of this coloration is unclear. Unlike some frogfishes, the psychedelic frogfish's color never changes, even if the habitat changes, and its offspring maintain that color as well. The fingerprint pattern, like the stripes on a zebra
or the spots on a humpback whale
's tail, is unique to each individual. This allows researchers to easily track multiple psychedelic frogfish in the wild and still identify them from any angle.
The face of the psychedelic frogfish is flattened; the cheeks and chin of the fish are extended laterally, much like the sides of a collapsible paper orb. The fish is able to both expand its head and extend its mouth forward, thus expanding the head and giving it a more elongated shape more often seen in large fish. The fish employs this behavior periodically when not feeding, as though yawn
ing.
The psychedelic frogfish has so far been positively identified only at Ambon Island, Indonesia, although it is quite likely that it will be eventually found elsewhere in Indonesia. It has been found in coral rubble, where it may be camouflaged from predators, though the location is primarily considered a 'muck' dive with few corals in the area. The fish have so far been found in locations where the water is 5 to 7 m (16.4 to 23 ft) deep, about 20 metres (65.6 ft) away from the shoreline. Occasionally, the current
in these areas is so strong that it makes it nearly impossible for the fish to swim, but usually the current is only mild.
The coloration of the fish may be reminiscent of a number or hermatypic coral
s such as Symphyllia sinuosa, Leptoseris explanata, Pachyseris rugosa, Platygyra ryukyuensis, Pectinia lactuca, and Caulastrea furcata, all located in the Indo-West Pacific
area.
and small fish. Fish cannot be attracted using the illicium, as this spine is so reduced in size that it is unnoticeable externally.
Instead, the psychedelic frogfish is presumed to strategically block off tight crevices which serve as passages to chambers in rocks and coral. The psychedelic frogfish was reported to wriggle itself very tightly into these holes, pushing with its fins, often for as long as two minutes before making its way inside the hole. Its skin may be covered with a protective mucus that aids in protecting it from scratches.
It is not known what the purpose is of the frilled cheeks and chin, although Pietsch, Arnold, & Hall hypothesize that these serve the same function as whiskers on a cat, which is to detect movement of potential predators. It is also hypothesized that the ball-like shape which the psychedelic frogfish takes on when swimming in the open may be a form of camouflage. When assuming this shape, the fish looks much less like a fish and more like a piece of debris bouncing along the reef.
s. Like all members of the genus Histiophryne, the female wrapped its caudal, dorsal, and anal fins around the cluster of eggs, hiding it from view. As the fish had already spawned when it was observed carrying the eggs, the length of time to hatching is unknown.
revealed "something different"— two curious-looking anglerfish that became known as the "paisley anglers". They were in "very poor condition", and they died that same month. The specimens were preserved and sent to Pietsch for identification, along with a photo, although the photo was poor quality. However, after having been fixed in formalin and preserved in ethanol
, their colors faded to a solid white, and their frilled faces lost their distinct frill shape. When the fish were analyzed, they were misidentified as cryptic anglerfish
(Histiophryne cryptacanthus). These specimens were preserved and placed on a shelf. No one returned to them until their recent rediscovery in 2008.
The species was first photographed in the wild during its second sighting in January 2008 by Buck Randolph, Fitrie Randolph and Toby Fadirsyair of Maluku Divers, located in Ambon, Indonesia. This quickly made headlines across American and Indonesian online newspapers, and the species was named one of the top 10 species discovered in 2009 by the International Institute for Species Exploration
.
Researchers were not sure how to classify it, since it was so different from any other fish known to man. The nearest genus, Histiophryne
had so many differences it was debated whether the fish deserved its own genus. In fact, it was even considered that the new fish did not belong in the Antennariidae family
. However, DNA
tests, which are today's standard for making the final call on whether a species is new
, proved that the fish belonged in the genus Histiophryne
.
Ichthyologists Pietsch, Arnold, and Hall collected a holotype
from the Laha I dive site at Maluku Divers on April 2, 2008. They discovered that the fish, when fixed in formalin and preserved in ethanol, shrank 23% (especially the fleshy cheeks and chin) within four months and hardened considerably. The colors all faded to a solid white, but when viewed using a dissecting microscope
, the stripes were again visible. These observations were consistent with the mysterious paisley anglers from Bali in 1992. This was subsequently tested on the two specimens saved from 1992, and the stripes could still be found using this method.
Frogfish
Frogfishes, family Antennariidae, are a type of anglerfish in the order Lophiiformes. They are known as anglerfishes in Australia, where 'frogfish' refers to a different type of fish...
named for its pink and white stripes arranged in a fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
pattern. The fish is from the waters near Ambon Island
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
and Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Description
The psychedelic frogfish was first described in 2009 by Ted PietschTheodore W. Pietsch
Theodore Wells Pietsch III is an American systematist and evolutionary biologist made famous by his studies of anglerfishes. Pietsch has described 65 species and 12 genera of fishes and published numerous scientific papers focusing on the relationships, evolutionary history, and functional...
, Rachel Arnold, and David J. Hall
David J. Hall
David J. Hall is an underwater wildlife photographer, author, and naturalist. His photographs have appeared in hundreds of books, magazines, calendars, and other print media worldwide, including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Natural History, Sierra, Time, Science, Scientific American, Geo,...
in the scientific journal
Scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
Copeia
Copeia
Copeia is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in ichthyology and herpetology that was named after Edward Drinker Cope, a prominent American researcher in these fields. It is the official journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists...
, where they described it as having "a remarkable pigment pattern of white swirling stripes", hence their use of the term psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
. The psychedelic frogfish has been known to reach a length of 15 centimetres (5.9 in). The skin of the psychedelic frogfish is flabby and fleshy, like other frogfishes. As a member of the order Lophiiformes, it has no scales. It covers the dorsal and ventral fins of the fish, which aid in camouflaging the fish. The skin may be covered in protective mucus
Mucus
In vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. Mucous fluid is typically produced from mucous cells found in mucous glands. Mucous cells secrete products that are rich in glycoproteins and water. Mucous fluid may also originate from mixed glands, which...
.
The psychedelic frogfish is different from many other 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...
es in that it lacks a luring appendage
Appendage
In invertebrate biology, an appendage is an external body part, or natural prolongation, that protrudes from an organism's body . It is a general term that covers any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment...
on its forehead and pelvic fins and has a flat face with a mouth smaller than that of most anglerfishes and forward-facing eyes
Stereopsis
Stereopsis refers to impression of depth that is perceived when a scene is viewed with both eyes by someone with normal binocular vision. Binocular viewing of a scene creates two slightly different images of the scene in the two eyes due the the eyes' different positions on the head...
. This unique optical setup allows the fish to utilize the same kind of depth perception
Depth perception
Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and the distance of an object. Depth sensation is the ability to move accurately, or to respond consistently, based on the distances of objects in an environment....
as humans, a trait rarely seen in fish.
The coloring of the skin is a pattern of yellowish brown or peach colored stripes. This pattern covers the entire fish, including its fins, except for the hidden skin that is exposed when the lips are stretched forward, which is pale in color. At the margins, the skin can appear to be turquoise, although the exact nature of this coloration is unclear. Unlike some frogfishes, the psychedelic frogfish's color never changes, even if the habitat changes, and its offspring maintain that color as well. The fingerprint pattern, like the stripes on a zebra
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
or the spots on a humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
's tail, is unique to each individual. This allows researchers to easily track multiple psychedelic frogfish in the wild and still identify them from any angle.
Yawn
A yawn is a reflex of simultaneous inhalation of air and stretching of the eardrums, followed by exhalation of breath. Pandiculation is the act of yawning and stretching simultaneously....
ing.
Habitat
Ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...
in these areas is so strong that it makes it nearly impossible for the fish to swim, but usually the current is only mild.
The coloration of the fish may be reminiscent of a number or hermatypic coral
Hermatypic coral
Hermatypic corals or "stony corals" are reef-building corals, while corals that do not deposit aragonite structures and contribute to coral reef development are referred to as ahermatypic species....
s such as Symphyllia sinuosa, Leptoseris explanata, Pachyseris rugosa, Platygyra ryukyuensis, Pectinia lactuca, and Caulastrea furcata, all located in the Indo-West Pacific
Indo-West Pacific
The Indo-West Pacific, or IWP, is a zoogeographical region spanning the entire Indian Ocean including the Red Sea and the Pacific Ocean as far as the Caroline Islands but short of the Marshall Islands...
area.
Locomotion
The psychedelic frogfish moves by walking on its pectoral fins over the seafloor, and has been observed using its fins to push off from the sea floor while at the same time shooting water through its gills to propel itself forward via jet propulsion. When doing so, the fish takes on a ball shape, and its behavior takes on that of a bouncing beach ball in the wind. These modes of locomotion are quite common for frogfishes, although rare for other fish.Diet
The fish's diet likely consists of shrimpShrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
and small fish. Fish cannot be attracted using the illicium, as this spine is so reduced in size that it is unnoticeable externally.
Instead, the psychedelic frogfish is presumed to strategically block off tight crevices which serve as passages to chambers in rocks and coral. The psychedelic frogfish was reported to wriggle itself very tightly into these holes, pushing with its fins, often for as long as two minutes before making its way inside the hole. Its skin may be covered with a protective mucus that aids in protecting it from scratches.
Defense
The psychedelic frogfish is relatively defenseless, but by hiding in these tight passages it is highly unlikely that any fish capable of swallowing it will be able to reach it. The combination of camouflage and the tight cavities in which it might hide makes it virtually impossible to find a psychedelic frogfish without overturning rocks and coral. According to Andy Shorten, co-owner of the Maluku Divers diving facility where the fish was discovered, "Seeking out these fish is probably going to be like the Holy Grail of divers for a while."It is not known what the purpose is of the frilled cheeks and chin, although Pietsch, Arnold, & Hall hypothesize that these serve the same function as whiskers on a cat, which is to detect movement of potential predators. It is also hypothesized that the ball-like shape which the psychedelic frogfish takes on when swimming in the open may be a form of camouflage. When assuming this shape, the fish looks much less like a fish and more like a piece of debris bouncing along the reef.
Spawning
One female psychedelic frogfish laid a cluster of about 220 eggEgg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s. Like all members of the genus Histiophryne, the female wrapped its caudal, dorsal, and anal fins around the cluster of eggs, hiding it from view. As the fish had already spawned when it was observed carrying the eggs, the length of time to hatching is unknown.
Discovery
In June 1992, a shipment of assorted fishes from Bali, Indonesia, to the Dallas World AquariumDallas World Aquarium
The Dallas World Aquarium is an aquarium and zoo located in West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA. The zoo aids conservation and education by housing many animals that are threatened or endangered as part of a cooperative breeding program with other zoos around the world.The...
revealed "something different"— two curious-looking anglerfish that became known as the "paisley anglers". They were in "very poor condition", and they died that same month. The specimens were preserved and sent to Pietsch for identification, along with a photo, although the photo was poor quality. However, after having been fixed in formalin and preserved in ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
, their colors faded to a solid white, and their frilled faces lost their distinct frill shape. When the fish were analyzed, they were misidentified as cryptic anglerfish
Cryptic Anglerfish
Cryptic Anglerfish is a frogfish found in waters ranging from Taiwan to South Australia. There are an estimated 75 specimens known. The luring appendage on its forehead is reduced to nearly nothing....
(Histiophryne cryptacanthus). These specimens were preserved and placed on a shelf. No one returned to them until their recent rediscovery in 2008.
The species was first photographed in the wild during its second sighting in January 2008 by Buck Randolph, Fitrie Randolph and Toby Fadirsyair of Maluku Divers, located in Ambon, Indonesia. This quickly made headlines across American and Indonesian online newspapers, and the species was named one of the top 10 species discovered in 2009 by the International Institute for Species Exploration
International Institute for Species Exploration
The International Institute for Species Exploration is a research institute hosted by Arizona State University, dedicated to improving taxonomical exploration and the cataloguing of new species of flora and fauna. It is located in Tempe, Arizona, in the United States of America. The institute's...
.
Researchers were not sure how to classify it, since it was so different from any other fish known to man. The nearest genus, Histiophryne
Histiophryne
Histiophryne is a genus of frogfishes found in waters ranging from Taiwan to South Australia. There are currently three known species. These fishes are easily distinguished from other anglerfishes as having a reduced luring appendage, a highly evolved form of the first dorsal fin spine...
had so many differences it was debated whether the fish deserved its own genus. In fact, it was even considered that the new fish did not belong in the Antennariidae family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
. However, DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
tests, which are today's standard for making the final call on whether a species is new
Species problem
The species problem or species concept is a mixture of difficult, related questions that often come up when biologists identify species and when they define the word "species"....
, proved that the fish belonged in the genus Histiophryne
Histiophryne
Histiophryne is a genus of frogfishes found in waters ranging from Taiwan to South Australia. There are currently three known species. These fishes are easily distinguished from other anglerfishes as having a reduced luring appendage, a highly evolved form of the first dorsal fin spine...
.
Ichthyologists Pietsch, Arnold, and Hall collected a holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
from the Laha I dive site at Maluku Divers on April 2, 2008. They discovered that the fish, when fixed in formalin and preserved in ethanol, shrank 23% (especially the fleshy cheeks and chin) within four months and hardened considerably. The colors all faded to a solid white, but when viewed using a dissecting microscope
Stereo microscope
The stereo or dissecting microscope is an optical microscope variant designed for low magnification observation or a sample using incident light illumination rather than transillumination. It uses two separate optical paths with two objectives and two eyepieces to provide slightly different viewing...
, the stripes were again visible. These observations were consistent with the mysterious paisley anglers from Bali in 1992. This was subsequently tested on the two specimens saved from 1992, and the stripes could still be found using this method.