Humpback anglerfish

Melanocetus johnsonii

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth42–1,931 m
Water temperature6–29 °C
Best monthsApril, June, and November
How commonOccasional

About this species

The humpback anglerfish is a species of black seadevil in the family of Melanocetidae, which means "black sea monster". The species is named after James Yate Johnson, an English naturalist who discovered the first specimen in Madeira in 1863. The common names include anglerfish, viperfish, and fangtoothfish.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Humpback anglerfish”, 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: 8 records
February: 18 records
March: 38 records
April: 42 records
May: 9 records
June: 40 records
July: 20 records
August: 10 records
September: 25 records
October: 29 records
November: 43 records
December: 16 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 42–1,931 m · Deepest record: 4,789 m

0–10 m: 21 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 3 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 259 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 6–29 °C

4–6 °C: 2 records
6–8 °C: 6 records
8–10 °C: 9 records
10–12 °C: 26 records
12–14 °C: 20 records
14–16 °C: 40 records
16–18 °C: 50 records
18–20 °C: 38 records
20–22 °C: 40 records
22–24 °C: 57 records
24–26 °C: 40 records
26–28 °C: 17 records
28–30 °C: 19 records

Names and classification

English: Humpback anglerfish, angler fish, Blackdevil, Humpback Blackdevil, Johnson's black anglerfish

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: negro
Japanese: Perikan-anko, ペリカンアンコウ
Simplified Chinese: 深海鮟鱇, 約氏黑犀魚, 約氏黑鮟鱇

Other scientific names: Centrocetus spinulosus, Melanocetus cirrifer, Melanocetus ferox, Melanocetus johnsoni, Melanocetus krechi, Melanocetus megalodontis, Melanocetus rotundatus, Melanocoetus rotundatus, Xenoceratias braueri, Xenoceratias brevirostris, Xenoceratias heterorhynchus, Xenoceratias laevis, Xenoceratias micracanthus

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).
1,043 open-data records from 1906 to 2023.

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