Ceratiidae

This article is about the deep-sea fish. For other uses, see Sea devil.

Sea devils
Krøyer's deep sea angler fish, Ceratias holboelli
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Lophiiformes
Family:	Ceratiidae
Genera
Ceratias Cryptopsaras See text for species.

Sea devils are a family, Ceratiidae, of deep-sea anglerfishes.

The scientific name is from Greek keras meaning "horn", and refers to the bioluminescent lure that projects from the fish's forehead.

They are among the most widespread of the anglerfishes, being found in all oceans, from tropical to Antarctic. They are large, elongate anglerfishes: females of the largest species, Krøyer's deep sea angler fish, Ceratias holboelli, reach 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in length. The males, by contrast, are dwarfed, reaching 14 centimetres (5.5 in). As in other anglerfishes, males spend much of their lives parasitically attached to the females, but they have a free-living adolescent stage in which they are very small - at most 1.3 centimetres (0.51 in) - and have sharp, beak-like, toothless jaws.

Ceratiidae males are substantially smaller than the females. At a young age, one or more males attach themselves parasitically and permanently to a female, eventually merging circulatory systems. As this genetic Chimera matures, the males grow large testicles while the rest of their bodies atrophy. Ceratiidae are the only known creatures to naturally become Chimeras as part of their life cycle.

Genera and species

• Genus Ceratias
  • Krøyer's deep sea angler fish, Ceratias holboelli Krøyer, 1845.
  • Ceratias tentaculatus (Norman, 1930).
  • Ceratias uranoscopus Murray, 1877.
• Genus Cryptopsaras
  • Triplewart seadevil, Cryptopsaras couesii Gill, 1883.