The Sargassum Anglerfish (histrio histrio) is generally found in floating weed structures on the open ocean. As with all anglerfishes it belongs to the family Antennaridae. It can be found on floating sargassum weed rafts which move around on the ocean currents. It is found in all tropical oceans except for the east Pacific and can sometimes be found in inshore estuaries where its weed transport has drifted to. To escape predators it employs a very unusual technique of jumping out of the water on to the weed raft where it will stay for a long period of time and will only return back to the water when the predator has passed.
It has large pectoral fins, which are almost like large hands that it uses to move around in a “walking” technique. This species is monotypic genus meaning that it is the only species in the Histrio genus. As with other Anglerfish species, it has a small lure and bait which it uses to attract prey species in. The Sargassum Anglerfish reaches a maximum size of 15cm.
