Johnny Sullivan, age 12, Columbus, Ohio, for his question:
Is there really fish with a fishing pole?
Quite a number. of assorted fishes carry fishing poles. They are called anglers and a group of them might make you think that Hug‑Eyed‑Monsters have landed and taken to the sea. Any one of these fisherman fish could easily win an ugliness contest. Actually it is Mrs. Angler who looks such a fright. Her husband, who is usually near by and often attached to her side, is to small to be noticed.
As a rule, t angler fish has a whopping big head, most of which is a mouth adorned with raggedy, jaggedy teeth. The body tapers back sharply from the giant sad and then spreads out into a wide flat tail.
The front side fins seem to grow from the ends of stubby arms. In some cases, the front fins end in what seem to be wrists and fingers: As a rule, anglers are not great swimmers. They prefer to squat on the ocean floor. One variety can walk and even hop along the ocean floor. Another can cling to seaweed.
Among the angler fishes, each has its own type of fishing pole. This handy gadget grows out from the forehead. It may be a long roe? with a trailing string, a string with fringes, a light bulb or a plunger. which moves in and out. The purpose of the fishing pole is always the same. It acts as a lure to tempt curious or hungry fish within range of the angler's monster mouth,
Anglers prefer warm or temperate waters. Most of them live in deep water, some down in the dark ocean abyss. A few come into shallow water off shore during winter.
The goosefish does her angling; off North America from Newfoundland to the Carolinas. She may be a 40 pound whopper, two to three feet long. Her long, flexible fishing pole ends in a leaflike tab. This she jerks to and fro. Sooner or later some hungry fish. mistakes this lure for a possible dinner. He goes to investigate. The goosefish opens her mouth which draws in a flow of water and the little victim rides down on the flood.
The deep sea angler fish lives in darkness. Her fishing lure looks like a bulb on the end of her nose. Her body is jet black and her body glows with a purplish blue light. She is usually only a few inches long but she can swallow a fish almost as large as herself.
The batfish is one of the most weird creatures in the sea. She is a (latish fish about a foot long. She prefers tropical waters where she walks along the ocean floor. Yes, the batfish is a walking fish, in fact she is the only walking fish.
In place of front fins she has a pair of stubby arms which end in what seem to be wrists and fingers. Her two back fins are like wide webbed feet. The batfish walks along moving two front fins, then two back fins. She can even leap like a frog. On her forehead is a small bump which conceals her fishing pole. When a victim swims by, she flicks out her pole to tempt it nearer. After dinner she pulls her fishing tackle back in again.