#chaunax

Sea Toad aka Coffinfish (Chaunacops coloratus), family Chaunacidae, order Lophiiformes, found in the deep sea, off the coast of California, USA

Smaller immature fish are bluish, and the older fish are red.

photograph by MBARI | NOAA

video: Fishing in the deep: observations of a deep-sea anglerfish (youtube.com)

Sea Toad aka Coffinfish (Chaunax umbrinus), family Chaunacidae, in the deep sea NE of the Hawaiian Islands

This is one of 25 spp. or Sea Toads/Coffinfish.

photograph via: NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer

Sea Toad aka Coffinfish (Chaunax suttkusi), family Chaunacidae, order Lophiiformes, photographed in the deep sea (~740 m | 2,428 ft) in the Gulf of Mexico.

There are several species of coffinfish, many do not have distinct common names.

Snippet: Coffinfish "holding its breath" underwater 

These coffinfish are thought to be trying to save energy by holding on to oxygenated water and not actively pumping it across their gills. The rarely studied fish were filmed by remotely operated vehicles in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expeditions. 

Sea Toad aka Coffinfish (Chaunax suttkusi), family Chaunacidae, order Lophiiformes, photographed in the deep sea (~740 m | 2,428 ft) in the Gulf of Mexico.

There are several species of coffinfish, many do not have distinct common names.

A Sea Toad, Chaunax sp., which is a fish that can "walk," waits for its next meal to swim by.

Deep Sea Gaper aka Coffinfish (Chaunax sp.), Gulf of Mexico - North

The newly discovered species, named Indian spotted coffinfish Chaunax multilepis have been described in a paper published in the journal Zootaxa. 

This bottom-dwelling fish in the sea toad family Chaunacidae was found in the  Andaman Sea at depths of 295–350 m, and off the southwestern coast of India, Arabian Sea.

The specific name multilepis means many scales, in reference to the diagnostic character of four neuromasts (lateral line organs)  on  lower  preopercular  series  of  lateral  line,  compared  with  typically  three  neuromasts  in  all  other members of this species group. 

The Chaunacidae is a group of medium-sized fishes inhabiting the continental slope at depths of up to  2.5 km found in tropical and subtropical oceans around the world.

Fresh caught specimens of Chaunax multilepis  in dorsal and lateral view. 

A redeye gaper (Chaunax sp.) venting water at 240 meters depth. Seen during the Lophelia II 2008 expedition at the Green Canyon site in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gapers are Lophiiformes, in the anglerfish group, with big heads, a network of open sensory canals,and a lateral canal extending posteriorly along a compressed trunk and tail. They are sit-and-wait, ambush predators