Fowlerichthys scriptissimus

Fowlerichthys scriptissimus, also called the calico frogfish or scripted frogfish, belongs to the family Antennariidae. This fish lives in the Indo-West Pacific, occupying rocky parts of coastal coral reefs at depths between 73 and 185 meters (240 to 607 feet). It is an oviparous species that grows to at least 28 centimeters (11 inches) in standard length, and may exceed that size. On March 28, 2012, a specimen measuring 29.1 centimeters (11.5 inches) SL was caught off Jejudo, which was the first time the species was documented in Korean waters.

The species was originally described as Antennarius scriptissimus in 1907 by American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan, with the type locality given as the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. According to the 5th edition of Fishes of the World, the genus Fowlerichthys is placed in the family Antennariidae, within the suborder Antennarioidei of the order Lophiiformes (the anglerfishes).

The genus name Fowlerichthys honors American ichthyologist Henry Weed Fowler of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who provided the type specimen of the genus’s type species, F. floridanus, to Barbour; ichthys means “fish.” The specific name scriptissimus translates to “written all over,” referring to the fish’s markings, which Jordan described as being “everywhere covered with narrow straightish, parallel, dark brown lines running in different directions on different parts of the body.”