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FISH GUIDE · Sea

Anglerfish: identification, habitat and fishing guide

Lophius piscatorius

White anglerfish is a bottom predator with a very broad head and a fishing filament. It is distinct from black-bellied anglerfish.

Catalogue names : Lotte de mer. Forms and names may vary between habitats.

Editorial review : · This species guide is not permission to fish. Read the precautions below and check the current rules for your location before targeting a species. Some species or populations are protected.

Geographical distribution

Documented from northern Norway to Mauritania, around the British Isles and south of Iceland, and in the Mediterranean and Black Sea according to DORIS.

  • Documented presence : Northeast Atlantic
  • Documented presence : Mediterranean Sea
  • Documented presence : Black Sea

Documented areas, not an exhaustive list. Presence in a region does not imply presence in every water body or permission to fish.

Distribution sources

Identification

A broad flattened head, large toothed mouth, developed pectoral fins and a forked tip to the fishing filament. The peritoneum is pale; this internal feature does not justify cutting a fish open for identification.

Habitat

Seabeds, particularly soft bottoms, in the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, from coastal areas onto the continental slope.

Diet

Mainly fish, with other occasional prey.

Behaviour

Camouflaged on the bottom, it hunts by ambush and uses its modified first dorsal ray to attract prey.

Indicative biological size

20–100 cm, the common size given by FAO; a broad descriptive range, not a legal minimum.

Fishing context and precautions

A dated account from 22 February 2012 reports Zeljko Vedernjak’s shore catch, identified as Lophius piscatorius, on a dead fish mounted on a lead head. It is an account by a journalist using a pseudonym, not a verified repeatable protocol or an independent taxonomic validation.

Sea Angling Ireland names both Lophius species and then describes incidental encounters on sand or mud between rocky areas. Its fishing discussion treats them together without identifying the taxon of each catch; it does not complete a verified species-specific protocol.

Terry Jackson mainly reports white anglerfish caught incidentally on bottom-fished baited rigs or pirks. The EFSA Måløy 2017 booklet also names Lophius piscatorius: rare bait catches and more often pirks near the seabed. This evidence concerns the exact taxon and is not a recipe for freshwater burbot or black-bellied anglerfish.

The proposed approach in France concerns an incidental encounter: prepare landing, retrieve under control and keep hands away from the toothed mouth. Have the body supported by a means suited to its broad head without lifting by the fishing filament. These general preventive measures do not guarantee survival, and no universal lure cadence, depth or size is prescribed.

A distinctive feature

Its eggs are held in long gelatinous ribbons.

Sources and review

Each reference includes its access date. Overall editorial review: . Local conditions and regulations may change.

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