Big-spot Angler

Abantennarius nummifer

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth3–58 m
Water temperature18–30 °C
Best monthsJanuary, October, and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Bernard DUPONT, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The spotfin frogfish, also known as the big-spot angler, coin-bearing frogfish, darkspot frogfish, ocellated angler, ocellated fringed fishing frog, opulent frogfish, spotfin angler or white-finger anglerfish, is a species ray-finned fish belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The spotfin frogfish is found in scattered locations the eastern Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Spotfin frogfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 22 records
February: 14 records
March: 8 records
April: 22 records
May: 22 records
June: 16 records
July: 16 records
August: 14 records
September: 18 records
October: 23 records
November: 32 records
December: 10 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–58 m · Deepest record: 175 m

0–10 m: 29 records
10–20 m: 31 records
20–30 m: 20 records
30–40 m: 9 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–30 °C

16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 17 records
22–24 °C: 25 records
24–26 °C: 37 records
26–28 °C: 50 records
28–30 °C: 67 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Big-spot Angler, Coin-bearing Frogfish, Dark-spotted Frogfish, Ocellated Angler, Ocellated Anglerfish, Opulent Frogfish, Spotfin Angler, Spot-fin Anglerfish, Spotfin Anglerfish, spotfin frogfish, White-finger Anglerfish

Names in 6 more languages

Spanish: Pez rana
French: Antennaire tacheté, Poisson-crapaud tacheté
Japanese: Benikaeruanko, ベニカエルアンコウ
Korean: 큰점씬벵이
Thai: ปลากบครีบจุด
Simplified Chinese: 五腳虎, 康氏躄魚

Other scientific names: Antennarius japonicus, Antennarius mummifer, Antennarius nummifer, Antennarius sanguifluus, Antennatus nummifer, Chironectes bicornis, Chironectes chlorostygma, Chironectes nummifer

Similar species

Black Angler
Antennarius commerson

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
206 open-data records from 1817 to 2016.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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