Prickly anglerfish (Echinophryne crassispina)

Classification (WoRMS)

Full classification as recorded by WoRMS: Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Chordata · Class: Teleostei · Order: Lophiiformes · Family: Histiophrynidae · Genus: Echinophryne.

Accepted name: Echinophryne crassispina · Authority: McCulloch & Waite, 1918 · Taxonomic status: accepted · AphiaID: 280584.

Source: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=280584 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-25.

Biology and life history (FishBase)

Measured values published by FishBase for Echinophryne crassispina. Only fields the database actually holds for this species are shown; these are database values, not aquarium guidance.

Maximum length: 7 cm · Depth range: 0–20 m · Habitat zone: reef-associated · Body shape: other · Vulnerability index: 10 of 100 · Aquarium trade: never/rarely.

FishBase notes: A temperate species found inshore on reefs (Ref. 7300). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 57178.

Source: FishBase species summary (SpecCode 14039) — https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Echinophryne-crassispina.html (CC BY-NC 3.0 — non-commercial use only). Accessed 2026-09-25.

Distribution and occurrence records (GBIF)

92 georeferenced occurrence records for Echinophryne crassispina are published through GBIF from 1 countries or marine areas. The map above plots 11 distinct locations from a sample of 92 records, omitting 12 inland records that carry an institution's coordinates rather than a collection site; it shows where the species has been observed and reported, not a modelled range.

Most records by country or area: Australia (92).

Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2414676) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2414676&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=280584 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-25.

Description and natural history (Wikipedia)

Echinophryne crassispina was first formally described in 1918 by the Australian ichthyologists Allan Riverstone McCulloch and Edgar Ravenswood Waite with its type locality given as Spencer Gulf in South Australia. When they described this new species McCulloch and Waite designated it as the type species of a new monospecific genus, Echinophryne. Some authorities classify Echinophryne in the subfamily Histiophryninae within the family Antennariidae., while others recognise it as the family Histiophrynidae. However, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Antennariidae, classifying the family within the suborder Antennarioidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.

Etymology

Echinophryne crassispina has the genus name Echinophryne which combines echinos, meaning "spiny", a reference to the skin of the type species which was described as "thickly beset with large, upstanding, bifurcate spinules", with phryne, meaning "toad", a common used suffix for anglerfish genera, it may date as far back as Aristotle and Cicero, who referred to anglerfishes as "fishing-frogs" and "sea-frogs", respectively, this is assumed to be an allusion to the frog- or toad-like appearance of these fishes. The specific name, crassispina, compounds crassus, meaning "thick" or "fat", with spina, which means spine, an allusion to the relatively thick illicium.

Description

Echinophryne crassispina has a short and deep body with a dense covering of bifurcate spinules. Its eyes are encircled by closely set spinules too. The caudal peduncle is short and the illicium, the "fishing rod", lacks an obvious lure, or esca. There are 2 further dorsal spines and a soft dorsal fin that is supported by 15 or 16 soft rays while the anal fin contains between 8 and 10 soft rays.

The dorsal and anal fins are not connected to the caudal fin. The colour of the body varies, it is normally cream, yellow, orange or even slaty grey, marked with dark brown latticing and marbling. There is a white crustaceous marking on the head and the anal and caudal fins each have a clear dark brown band along the middle and another at the fin margin.

Distribution and habitat

Echinophryne crassispina is endemic to the temperate waters of southern Australia being found as far north as Jervis Bay in New South Wales, south to northern Tasmania east to the southwestern coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The prickly anglerfish is found at depths between 0 and 20 m living on rocky reefs, often hiding beneath rocks, under ledges and around jetties.

Biology

Echinophryne crassispina feeds mainly on small decapod crustaceans. The prickly anglerfish breeds during the early summer when females lay around 150 eggs onto a rocky substrate, the eggs being adhered to the rock, and to each other, by filaments. The males then guard the eggs until they hatch, creating a "pocket" between the body and the tail.

Echinophryne crassispina is collected for the aquarium trade and under the Tasmanian Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995, Fisheries (Scalefish) Rules 2004 - Regulation 100, a person holding a personal fishing licence is limited to having 3 specimens of this species while in Tasmanian waters. Thisspecies has not been evaluated for the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red Data Book.

Source: Wikipedia: Echinophryne crassispina — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinophryne_crassispina (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-25.