Young Anglers In Captivity and some of their Enemies. A Study in a Plunger Jar

Abstract

It is only very rarely that the spawn of the Angler Lophius piscatorius is captured near Plymouth, although it has been recorded (Cunningham, 1896). It is well known that it consists of a gelatinous ribbon several yards long and a yard or more wide, with the eggs (over a million) in one layer divided from one another by roundish capsules. It is probable that the Angler spawns well out to sea, for when these ribbons of eggs have been captured anywhere near the coast the larvae have nearly always already hatched and are lying loose in the capsules (Bowman, 1919). Moreover, most of the spawn caught inshore consists of portions only of the ribbon which have probably drifted towards the coast.