The batfish family is perhaps among the most unusual-looking fish in the world. With their round or arrow-shaped heads and short, narrow bodies, they hardly look like fish at all, but rather some kind of bizarre primordial animal from hundreds of millions of years ago. But in fact, they are a type of modern anglerfish, which have a lure on the head to attract prey. These fish should not be confused with the pinnatus batfish from the genus Platax, which is not related to the anglerfish at all. It belongs to an entirely separate order instead.
3 Batfish Facts
- The batfish pushes itself along the sea floor with its fins. When it requires more speed, its hard tail will dig into the ground and push it farther along. As a result, it can achieve surprisingly fast speeds even without the ability to properly swim through the water.
- Some batfish have tiny hair follicles around their face, which presumably help with sensing its environment.
- Despite their bizarre appearance, the batfish is completely harmless to humans.
Classification and Scientific Name
The scientific name of the batfish family is Ogcocephalidae. This may be derived from the combination of two Greek words: ogkos, which means hooked or curved, and kephalos, which means head. There are currently 60 species recognized within this family. Some examples include the red-lipped batfish, the longnose seabat, and the starry handfish.
Appearance
The batfish has an utterly unique appearance perhaps unlike any other fish in the sea. It is characterized by a rounded or arrow-shaped flat head and a small, thin body (which essentially just looks like a long tail) covered in lumps and spines. The two modified fins on the side of the body are used to walk on the bottom of the sea; otherwise, they are poor swimmers. As a member of the anglerfish order, they are equipped with a fishing pole and false bait just above the mouth.
Types of Batfish
There are around 60 types of Batfish. These are just a few!
- Red-Lipped Batfish – Ogcocephalus darwini, which comes from the Greek words for “hook” which is ogkos and “head” which is kephalḗ, so it means a fish with a hooked head or a hook on its head. Darwini comes from the famed naturalist Charles Darwin. They can be found on the Galapagos Islands.
- Shortnose Batfish – Ogcocephalus nasutus, can be found in the Caribbean from Florida to Venezuela.
- Roughback Batfish – Ogcocephalus parvus, are found all the way from the Brazilian coast to the North Carolina coast.
History and Evolution
Batfish evolved over time to find food where others could not. As competition in the waters became too much, early ancestors of batfish found more success lower and lower to the ocean floors. They adapted to move quickly and efficiently along lower depths and they actually became poor swimmers overall.
Habitat
The batfish is found in tropical or temperate oceans all over the planet. They can live at any depth of the sea, from shallow coasts and river estuaries to the deep ocean. The maximum recorded depth was some 13,000 feet below the surface. Since little is actually known about these fish, the IUCN Red List has not really evaluated their conservation status, but they are thought to be widespread. However, because many of them live among coral reefs (including the red-lipped batfish), climate change and coral bleaching could pose a problem in the future.
Predators and Prey
The batfish is a carnivorous animal. It “walks” along the bottom of the seafloor in search of prey to consume.
What eats the batfish?
The batfish has very few predators in the wild except perhaps for larger fish such as sharks. Their hard bodies do provide them with a degree of protection.
What does the batfish eat?
The diet of the batfish consists of crabs, shrimp, snails, worms, and smaller fish. Unlike other types of anglerfish, their lure does not glow. Instead, it secretes a chemical into the water that attracts potential prey.
Reproduction and Lifespan
Unfortunately, there is very little information available about the reproductive behavior of the batfish, including their mating season, gestation time, and development. It has been suggested that the red-lipped batfish may sport its stylized look in order to attract a mate. The bright colors of the mouth would presumably signify to a potential mate that it’s healthy and worth reproducing with. However, this theory has never been definitively proven. The lifespan of the red-lipped batfish is thought to be some 12 years in the wild.
