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Antennarius pictus Painted frogfish      
Juvenile, swimming, moving across rock
Kingdom - Animalia - animals
   Phylum - Chordata - chordates
      Subphylum - Vertebrata - vertebrates
         Superclass - Osteichthyes - peixe ósseo
            Class - Actinopterygii - poissons à nageoires rayonnées
               Subclass - Neopterygii - neopterygians
                  Infraclass - Teleostei
                     Superorder - Paracanthopterygii
                        Order - Lophiiformes - anglerfishes
                           Suborder - Antennarioidei
                              Family - Antennariidae - anglerfishes
                                 Subfamily - Antennariinae
                                    Genus - Antennarius (Daudin, 1816) - warty frogfishes
                                       Species - Antennarius pictus (Shaw in Shaw and Nodder, 1794) - painted frogfish
Jack Randall Information

Jack Randall Book Cover
Antennarius pictus
Antennarius pictus (Shaw & Nodder, 1794) Dorsal rays I + I + I,11-13 (usually 12); anal rays 6-7 (rarely 6); pectoral rays 10-11 (rarely 11); illicium about twice as long as second dorsal spine, the esca large and filamentous; second dorsal spine joined to head by membrane that is largely covered with spinules; a distinct caudal peduncle; white, red, yellow, gray, brown, or black, usually with many round spots or ocelli of various size, often with a triangle of 3 dark spots in caudal fin. Largest specimen, 21 cm. Indo-Pacific; type locality, Tahiti; depth range, shallows to 75 m. Similar to Antennarius maculatus which differs notably in having large, wart-like protuberances on head, body, and fins (sometimes a few small ones in pictus). Antennarius chironectes Latreille is a synonym.


Fishbase Information (FISHBASE.ORG)

Painted frogfish 

30.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; Ref. 559)

reef-associated; marine; depth range 0 - 75 m

tropical; 32°N - 24°S

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the Hawaiian and Society islands.

Dorsal spines(total): 3; Dorsal soft rays(total): 12-13; Analspines: 0; Analsoft rays: 7-8. Color variable; has a black phase with white pectoral ray tips. Bony part of illicium with numerous dark crossbands and nearly twice as long as the 2nd dorsal spine; esca an elongate tuft of flattened appendage.

Inhabit shallow sheltered reefs (Ref. 9710). Adults usually with sponges; juveniles openly on sand or reef, mimicking small sponges or nudibranchs (Ref. 48635). Oviparous. Eggs are bound in ribbon-like sheath or mass of gelatinous mucus called egg raft or veil (Ref. 6773).

Fishbase Credit - Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2005.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (06/2005).