{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Antennarius maculatus (Desjardins, 1840) 2283129219.jpg | status= LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name = iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Pietsch, T. |author-link=Theodore Wells Pietsch III |year=2022 |title=''Antennarius maculatus'' |article-number=e.T67968705A67970912 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T67968705A67970912.en |access-date=28 March 2024}}</ref> | taxon = Antennarius maculatus | authority = (Desjardins, 1840) | synonyms = {{Specieslist | Chironectes maculatus | Desjardins, 1840 | Phymatophryne maculata | (Desjardins, 1840) | Antennarius oligospilos | Bleeker, 1857 | Antennarius phymatodes | Bleeker, 1857 | Antennarius guentheri | Bleeker, 1864 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase|Antennarius|maculatus|month=February|year=2024}}</ref> }}
The '''warty frogfish''' or '''clown frogfish''' ('''''Antennarius maculatus''''') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The warty frogfish is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
==Taxonomy== The warty frogfish was first formally described as ''Chironectes maculatus'' in 1840 by the French zoologist Julien François Desjardins with its type locality given as Mauritius.<ref name = CofF>{{Cof genus|genus=Antennarius|access-date=28 March 2024}}</ref> Within the genus ''Antennarius'' the Indian frogfish belongs to the ''pictus'' species group.<ref name = Zubi>{{cite web |url=https://www.frogfish.ch/species-arten/Antennarius-maculatus.html|title=''Antennarius maculatus'' |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=www.frogfish.ch |publisher=Teresa Zubi}}</ref> The 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies the genus ''Antennarius'' in the family Antennariidae within the suborder Antennarioidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |author1=Nelson, J.S. |author1-link=Joseph S. Nelson |author2=Grande, T.C. |author3=Wilson, M.V.H. |year=2016 |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |place=Hoboken, NJ |pages=508–518 |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |lccn=2015037522 |oclc=951899884 |ol=25909650M |doi=10.1002/9781119174844}}</ref>
==Etymology== ''Antennarius maculatus'' has the genus name ''Antennarius'' which suffixes ''-ius'' to antenna, an allusion to first dorsal spine being adapted into a tentacle on the snout used as a lure to attract prey. The specific name ''maculatus'' means "spotted", an allusion to the many brown variably sized circular dark spots on the body.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/lophiiformes1/ |title=Order LOPHIIFORMES (part 1): Families LOPHIIDAE, ANTENNARIIDAE, TETRABRACHIIDAE, LOPHICHTHYIDAE, BRACHIONICHTHYIDAE, CHAUNACIDAE and OGCOCEPHALIDAE |author=Christopher Scharpf |date=14 November 2022 |access-date=28 March 2024 |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}</ref>
==Description== The warty frogfish grows up to {{convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. Like other members of its family, it has a globulous, extensible body, and its soft skin is covered with small dermal spinules. The skin is covered with numerous small, wart-like protuberances. Its large prognathous mouth allows it to consume prey its same size. The coloring of its body is extremely variable because it tends to match its living environment.
Frogfishes have the capacity to change coloration and pigment pattern in a few weeks: during coral bleaching events, they can even turn to plain white to blend in with the environment.<ref name="Grimditsch">{{cite journal |last1=Grimsditch |first1=Gabriel |last2=Basheer |first2=Ahmed |last3=Bryant |first3=D.E.P. |date=2016 |title=Extreme white colouration of frogfish Antennarius maculatus due to coral bleaching event |journal=Coral Reefs |volume=36 |page=167 |doi=10.1007/s00338-016-1500-6 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, the dominant coloration goes from white to black, passing through a whole range of related nuances such as cream, pink, yellow, red, and brown, often with dark, circular spots and/or with saddles. Some heavily spotted specimens can easily be confused with its close relative ''Antennarius pictus''. This characteristic can help to separate them: usually, ''A. maculatus'' has red or orange margins on all fins and sometimes a spike of the saddle blotch starts posterior to the eye.<ref name="eol">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://eol.org/pages/205404/details|title=Descriptions and articles about the Clown Frogfish (Antennarius maculatus) – Encyclopedia of Life|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Life}}</ref>
The first dorsal spine, the illicium is modified and is used as a fishing rod. Its extremity is endowed with a characteristic esca (lure), which looks like a small fish with a pinkish to brownish coloration. The illicium is twice the length of the second dorsal spine and its often darkly banded. The second dorsal spine is practically straight and is mobile, and the third one is bent towards the back of the body; both are membranously attached to the head. They are well separated from each other and also from the dorsal fin.<ref name="Frogfishes">{{cite book |author=Theodore W. Pietsch |author-link=Theodore Wells Pietsch III |author2=David B. Grobecker |title=Frogfishes of the world |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1987 | isbn=978-0-8047-1263-7}}</ref>
The pectoral fins are angled and help, with the pelvic fins, to move the fish on the bottom and to keep a stable position for ambush.
The warty frogfish exhibits biofluorescence, that is, when illuminated by blue or ultraviolet light, it re-emits it as red, and appears differently than under white light illumination. Biofluorescence may assist intraspecific communication and camouflage.<ref name=plosone>{{cite journal|title=The Covert World of Fish Biofluorescence: A Phylogenetically Widespread and Phenotypically Variable Phenomenon|journal= PLOS ONE|volume= 9|issue= 1|article-number= e83259|doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0083259|pmid= 24421880|pmc= 3885428|year= 2014|last1= Sparks|first1= John S.|last2= Schelly|first2= Robert C.|last3= Smith|first3= W. Leo|last4= Davis|first4= Matthew P.|last5= Tchernov|first5= Dan|last6= Pieribone|first6= Vincent A.|last7= Gruber|first7= David F.|bibcode= 2014PLoSO...983259S|doi-access= free}}</ref>
<gallery style="text-align:center;" mode="packed" styles="text-align:center;"> File:Antennarius maculatus.003 - Aquarium Finisterrae.jpg| File:Clown Frogfish (Antennarius maculatus) (8470598015).jpg| File:KumadoriIUOose.jpg| File:Warty Frogfish (Antennarius maculatus) (6103400392).jpg| </gallery>
==Distribution and habitat== ''A. maculatus'' lives in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific area from Mauritius and Reunion Island of the center of the Indian Ocean to the western part of the Pacific Ocean.<ref name="eol" /> It is found in sheltered rocky and coral reefs; adults are usually associated with sponges down to {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=on}} deep.<ref name="eol" />
==Feeding== As all frogfishes, ''A. hispidus'' is a voracious carnivore which can attack all small animals that pass within its "strike range", mainly fishes. Its prey can vary in size to close to its own size.<ref name="Frogfishes" />
==Behaviour== Like other members of their family, they have a benthic and solitary lifestyle. They gather during mating period, but do not tolerate each other any more after the act of fertilization. The female can kill or eat the male if he stays close.<ref name="Frogfishes" />
==See also== *Japanese common toad
==References== <references/>
==External links== {{Commons category|Antennarius maculatus}} {{Wikispecies|Antennarius maculatus}} * {{FishBase | genus = Antennarius | species = maculatus| month = December| year = 2008}} *http://www.frogfish.ch/species-arten/Antennarius-maculatus.html *http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Antennarius-maculatus.html *http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=164556 *http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=217850 * {{sealifephotos|217850}}
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Warty frogfish Category:Fish described in 1840 Category:Taxa named by Julien Desjardins