Species: Abantennarius bermudensis, Island Frogfish

Abantennarius bermudensis (Schultz, 1957)

Island Frogfish

A globular somewhat compressed body; head not spiny; eyes on sides of head; a very large, upward directed mouth with many small teeth; a small round gill opening, below and behind pectoral base; dorsal rays I+I+I,12; "fish-pole" shorter than second dorsal spine; "lure" an elongate, tapering appendage with slender filaments and a cluster of darkly pigmented round swellings at base; second dorsal spine strongly curved and free, not connected to head by membrane; 3rd dorsal spine movable, not bound down by skin; limb-like pectoral fins with an "elbow" joint, that fin broadly connected to body; anal rays 7; pectoral rays 10 (rarely 9); dorsal and anal fins connected by membrane to bases of tail fin rays; pelvic fins short, with 4 unbranched and 1 branched rays; skin of body rough, covered with close-set, double-pointed spicules.

Yellow, tan or brown with brown spotting and mottling, sometime forming irregular bars across tail fin; a well developed ocellus on back just below middle of dorsal fin, belly without conspicuous brown spots; 0-7 dark bars radiating from eye.

Size: attains 7.7 cm.

Habitat: reef habitats.

Depth: 0.5-65 m.

The Greater Caribbean.

Very similar to the Indo-Pacific species A. coccineus.