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Thaumatichthys
Thaumatichthys is a genus of deep-sea anglerfish in the family Thaumatichthyidae, with three known species. Its scientific name means "wonder-fish" in Greek; oceanographer Anton Bruun described these fishes as "altogether one of the oddest creatures in the teeming variety of the fish world." In contrast to other anglerfishes, the bioluminescent lure (called the "esca") of Thaumatichthys is located inside its cavernous mouth. They are worldwide in distribution and are ambush predators living near the ocean floor.
3 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 3 known species
Thaumatichthys pagidostomus
speciesThaumatichthys pagidostomus
Thaumatichthys binghami
speciesThaumatichthys binghami
Thaumatichthys axeli
speciesThaumatichthys axeli
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Thaumatichthys in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 92479.