High-Speed Cinematographic Evidence for Ultrafast Feeding in Antennariid Anglerfishes

Abstract

Analyses by means of high-speed, light cinematography at 800 and 1000 frames per second have shown that members of the shallow-water anglerfish genus Antennarius are capable of producing an enormous suction pressure for prey capture by means of an extraordinarily rapid expansion of the buccal and opercular cavities. Prey is totally engulfed at speeds considerably greater than those recorded for any other fish. The structural adaptations responsible for this rapid prey engulfment provide anglerfishes with one of the fastest known vertebrate feeding mechanisms.