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Order Lophiiformes(anglerfishes) Family Antennariidae(Frogfishes)
Scarlet frogfish Abantennarius coccineus(Lesson, 1831). 13.0 cm TL
Japanese name/Gomafu-izariuo
Chinese name/細斑躄魚
Dorsal spines(total): 3; Dorsal soft rays(total): 12-13; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 7.
Distribution; Indo-East-Pacific/Red Sea and East Africa to the easternmost islands of the Pacific Plate, excluding Hawaii, including the Desventuradas Islands off the coast of central Chile
General; The Latin word 'coccineus' means scarlet or red, depicting the colour of the fish. Color variable, usually yellow, red or pale tan. The scarlet frogfish has large variety regarding its documented physical appearance. Abantennarius coccineus has many characteristics common with the Antennariidae family. This includes being stocky and unstreamlined, having a scaleless body, spinules, an upward pointing mouth with palatal teeth as well as the lure associated with anglerfish.
Having an illicium that is much smaller than the standard frogfish illicium length. Illicium about equal to the length of the 2nd dorsal spine. Esca a spherical whitish blob or it may be filamentous. Defining characteristics of Abantennarius coccineus include the last pelvic fin ray being split in two, The presence of dark patches that appear on its fins and body, and its lack of distinctive tail base, this is because the posterior dorsal and anal fins extend all the way to the beginning of the tail fin
Frogfish express various behaviours when feeling threatened. To prevent attacks, they will either remain as still as possible, using their camouflage to hide or else they will use Batesian Mimicry. This is where a prey animal will mimic other dangerous species to prevent predators attacking. Abantennarius coccineus is known to do this by resting on the seafloor in the way a sea urchin would or else picking up similar behaviours to the poisonous scorpionfish. Once attacked by a predator they use their mouths powerful suction to swell their whole body with water, making it difficult for any predatorial animal to swallow it.
A unique behaviour to the family Antennariidae is the unique form of locomotion they have . Many of the fish in this family, including Abantennarius coccineus, can take water in through the mouth and expel it through gill openings similar to tubes, located behind its pectoral fins. Using powerful exhalation, it can propel itself forward and often does so to help ambush its prey. Abantennarius is also mainly nocturnally active however still catches prey during the day time
Collected from tide pools as well as lagoon and seaward reefs, secretive among rocks and sponges. Feeds on small fishes. Benthic. Oviparous. Eggs are bound in ribbon-like sheath or mass of gelatinous mucus called 'egg raft' or 'veil'. Found among reef crevices or among rubble in 1-75 m, but usually less than 10 m. Similar to all frogfishes, A. coccineus is a voracious carnivore which devours all small prey that enters within its reach. Like other members of the Antennariidae family, it has a solitary and benthic lifestyle, only tolerating each other for the simple act of fertilization.
※Problems of naming the frogfishes by using color names(Names of Red frogfish and Yellow frogfish in Korean species) Six species are known to be distributed in Korea(as of February, 2021). Among them, 2 species with the name of Red frogfish and Yellow frogfish are known as Korean species for a long time, and the remaining 4 species are recently reported as new species in Korea. In the past, when detailed information about the frogfishes was not available and only red and yellow frogfishes were known, ordinary people interested in fish were confused by the two colored names, maybe it still be in confusion. As more and more people enjoy scuba diving leisure and more people do underwater photography, their underwater photos have begun to be featured in dive magazines. The ichthyologists annotated the yellow specimen photo with the name “red frogfish”, whereas the red specimen picture as “yellow frogfish”. The question of whether it was a typo came to the magazine, and it was a period when social media was not generalized, so editors and scholars had to struggle to explain.
This fuss was caused by the wrong name in the first place. Because they change colors in various ways, specific colors to their names should not be given. Of the 50 global common names of Family Antennariidae, only one species, the Scarlet frogfish(Abantennarius coccineus) is given color for its name. The first two species that were known early in Korea are Histrio histrio(Sargassumfish) and Antennarius striatus((Striated frogfish), translated into English as Yellow frogfish and Red frogfish respectively. The scientific specific name of Scarlet frogfish is coccineus, means red in Latin. There seems to be a reason for the use of color in the scientific name of this species. It has been described that this species can also change its color, but if you search photos of this species on the Internet, the colors of this species are not as diverse as other species, almost all specimens are red. Because of this dominant color, coccineus appears to be used in the Latin scientific name. Therefore, there are only two examples of using colors in the names of species without validity; the Yellow frogfish and Red frogfish in Korea.
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