Prickly Deepsea Anglerfish

Himantolophus appelii

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth400–1,110 m
Water temperature5–26 °C
Best monthsFebruary, March, and June
How commonRare

About this species

The prickly anglerfish is a footballfish of the family Himantolophidae, found around the world in the southern oceans, in deep water. Its length is up to 40 cm (16 in). It is a mesopelagic species.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 8 records
February: 9 records
March: 10 records
April: 4 records
May: 8 records
June: 9 records
July: 8 records
August: 1 records
September: 5 records
October: 9 records
November: 9 records
December: 6 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 400–1,110 m · Deepest record: 1,700 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 106 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 5–26 °C

4–6 °C: 1 records
6–8 °C: 0 records
8–10 °C: 0 records
10–12 °C: 13 records
12–14 °C: 22 records
14–16 °C: 39 records
16–18 °C: 30 records
18–20 °C: 10 records
20–22 °C: 19 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Prickly Deepsea Anglerfish, Prickly Footballfish

Other scientific names: Aegaeonichthys appelii

Similar species

Atlantic footballfish
Himantolophus groenlandicus
Himantolophus stewarti

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).
203 open-data records from 1877 to 2011.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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