How to Mate a Male Angler Fish

The deep sea angler fish is recognizable by the long, thing appendage on its head, with which it lures its prey. These strange fish have a bizarre approach to reproduction. Soon after metamorphosis, the male actively looks for and locates the much larger female. Males then attach themselves to the belly of the female fish by biting into her and releasing an enzyme which fuses the tissue of the two fish together. The body of the male angler fish, with its ever-reducing digestive system, then slowly wastes away, until nothing but a growth remains. This male appendage, which is effectively nothing more than a large testis, fertilizes the female's eggs once she begins to lay.

Things You'll Need

  • Marine aquarium
  • Thermometer
  • Female angler fish
  • Male angler fish
  • Plastic clamp
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Instructions

    • 1

      Ensure that the lights in the room in which the aquarium is placed remain dimmed. Do not use any lighting over the aquarium.

    • 2

      Ensure that the aquarium cooler is functional. Keep the water below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

    • 3

      Obtain a female angler fish that has undergone correct decompression after its collection. Fish from deep water environments that are not put through the correct decompression process as they are brought to the ocean surface will experience swim bladder problems that can be fatal.

    • 4

      Place the angler fish in a plastic container with the same water in which it travelled, and secure the container to the rim of the aquarium with a plastic clamp.

    • 5

      Add a small amount of aquarium water to the plastic container every 10 minutes, to acclimatize the fish to the water chemistry in the aquarium. Do this for an hour.

    • 6

      Tip the container gently into the aquarium water after an hour to release the angler fish into the aquarium.

    • 7

      Obtain a male angler fish and acclimatize it in the same fashion as you did with the female.

    • 8

      Watch how the male angler fish immediately finds and attaches itself to the abdomen of the larger female fish.

    • 9

      Observe how the male fish slowly wastes away, until only a small growth remains on the body of the female.

    • 10

      Look very closely when the female begins to lay eggs. The growth will release milt or sperm at this point to fertilize the eggs.