Frogfish and Dragonets Codexery

Abantennarius coccineus

A colorful, solitary frogfish with a complex taxonomic history.

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Abantennarius coccineus

Jeffrey T. Williams / Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes. · via Wikipedia: Abantennarius coccineus · Public domain

It grows to a maximum length of 13 cm and displays colors ranging from tan and brown to bright reds and yellows.[1][2] The marine species Abantennarius coccineus, belonging to the Antennariidae family, is referred to as the scarlet or freckled frogfish.[3][4]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderLophiiformes
  6. FamilyAntennariidae
  7. GenusAbantennarius
  8. SpeciesAbantennarius coccineus

Named by (Lesson, 1831)

Close relatives

Other species of Abantennarius with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Abantennarius coccineus (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 1605256 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2022

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Abantennarius coccineus and a personA 0.13 m long abantennarius coccineus drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.13 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.13 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Abantennarius coccineus

Where the abantennarius coccineus has been recorded

Where the abantennarius coccineus has been recorded20 mapped locations from 41 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (41 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 5 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)

Biology and range

It lives in reef areas among rocky mounds or sponges at depths of 1–75 m, usually less than 10 m.[1][5] It can take water in through its mouth and expel it through gill openings to propel itself forward.[6] The frogfish is not harmful to humans and is not caught for consumption.[7] It is oviparous, with females releasing eggs to be externally fertilized by males at the surface.[8][9]

The population has high resilience and can double in less than one year and three months.[10] Abantennarius coccineus is a scarce species, with only two individuals encountered in a study of reef fish abundance in India.[11] The scarlet frogfish is found in tropical waters of the Indo-East-Pacific region, but it is not present in Hawaii.[12][5] This fish is a carnivore that lives alone on the seafloor and employs a head-mounted lure to draw in its food.[13][14]

For a period of one to two months, the young exist as part of the open ocean plankton before they move to the reef.[10]

What the specialist sources record

The FishBase account notes that the species has 3 dorsal spines, 12–13 dorsal soft rays, and 7 anal soft rays.[5] FishBase also reports that the scarlet frogfish is of no interest to fisheries but is used in the aquarium trade.[5] The frogfish.ch identification guide states that Abantennarius coccineus lacks a distinct tail base, with dorsal and anal fins ending at the base of the tail fin.[15] The World Register of Marine Species accepts the name Abantennarius coccineus (Lesson, 1831) within the family Antennariidae.[4]

GBIF holds 60 occurrence records for this taxon as of October 2026.[16]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Antennatus coccineus, Scarlet frogfish: aquarium", www.fishbase.se; Bray, "Antennatus coccineus in Fishes of Australia", July 2024; "Antennatus coccineus, Scarlet frogfish: aquarium", www.fishbase.se; "Australian Frogfish (Antennariidae): Identification key / Tips how to identify frogfish species. With illustrations and photos.", www.frogfish.ch; Al-Mamry, "The bycatch composition of shrimp trawl fishery in the Oman coastal waters, the Arabian Sea", Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 2015-09-30, p. 273–283; Prakash, "Invasion An en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Species: Antennatus coccineus (Freckled Anglerfish)", Atlast of Living Australia; Froese, "Chironectes coccineus Lesson, 1831", 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Antennatus coccineus", www.mindat.org; Froese, "Chironectes coccineus Lesson, 1831", 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. World Register of Marine Species, Abantennarius coccineus (AphiaID 1605256). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  5. "Antennatus coccineus, Scarlet frogfish: aquarium", www.fishbase.se. facts only, no text reused. fishbase.se
  6. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 5. Fish, F. E. (1987). Kinematics and Power Output of Jet Propulsion by the Frogfish Genus Antennarius (Lophiiformes: Antennariidae).; Williams, Jeffrey T. 1989. "Book review of: Frogfishes of the World, by T. W. Pietsch and D. B. Grobecker" National Geographic Research. ( ).. 5 (3):277-280.; Ghisotti, A., 1997. Fish Of The Maldives. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Al-Mamry, "The bycatch composition of shrimp trawl fishery in the Oman coastal waters, the Arabian Sea", Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 2015-09-30, p. 273–283; Bray, "Antennatus coccineus in Fishes of Australia", July 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Froese, "Chironectes coccineus Lesson, 1831", 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Frogfishes", PhilsDiving; "EcoSystem Aquarium Frogfishes — The Family Antennariidae", www.mydigitalpublication.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bray, "Family ANTENNARIIDAE", Fishes of Australia; "Antennatus coccineus, Scarlet frogfish: aquarium", www.fishbase.se (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Prakash, "Invasion And Abundance Of Reef Inhabiting Fishes In The Vellar Estuary", Current Science, 2012, p. 941–944; Arnold, "Evolutionary history of frogfishes (Teleostei: Lophiiformes: Antennariidae): a molecular approach", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2012, p. 117–129 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Antennatus coccineus", www.mindat.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pietsch, "Frogfishes of the world: Systematics, zoogeography, and behavioral ecology", Stanford University Press}}{{page needed, July 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Abantennarius coccineus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bray, "Family ANTENNARIIDAE", Fishes of Australia (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  15. "Australian Frogfish (Antennariidae): Identification key / Tips how to identify frogfish species. With illustrations and photos.", www.frogfish.ch. facts only, no text reused. frogfish.ch
  16. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Abantennarius coccineus (taxon key 11954282). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Abantennarius coccineus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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