Coffinfish

The coffinfish (Chaunax endeavouri) is a species of sea toad of the family Chaunacidae. It is found in salty temperate waters of southwestern Pacific, off east coast of Australia.[1] It can be also found in depths of 164–984.3 ft (50.0–300.0 m). Deep sea crab Fisher man off the east coast of Florida pull them up from depth ranging from 5,000-8,000 feet about 54–68 miles off the coast.[2] They have a globose and spiny body that grows to a maximum length of 22.0 cm (8.7 in) (SL male/unsexed)[3] and a black mouth lining and an illicium on the snout that can be lowered into a groove.[4]

Coffinfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Lophiiformes
Family:	Chaunacidae
Genus:	Chaunax
Species:	C. endeavouri
Binomial name
Chaunax endeavouri Whitley, 1929

Distribution

Endemic to the temperate waters of the southwestern Pacific, off east coast of Australia.[1]

Habitat

Benthic, muddy bottom of the ocean, Australian continental shelf and upper slope in the deep ocean, usually 200m-2500m.[5]

Physical description

Rounded body and ventrally compressed with loose skin; tapering to a small rounded tail. Head very large and globose with especially prominent open lateral-line canals; eyes dorsolateral; the mouth is large, oblique to nearly vertical, with relatively small, sharp slender teeth. Lure is short, located just behind snout within a depression that it rests in; the esca is mop-like, a dense cluster of numerous, short, thread-like cirri. The skin is densely covered with small to minute spine-like scales that are somewhat similar both in shape and feel to placoid scales of sharks. Single open lateral-line canal on body joining conspicuous canals on head and extending posteriorly to proximal portion of caudal fin.[6] Anal-fin rays 6 or 7 (usually 7); Soft dorsal fin with 10 to 12 rays; pectoral fins narrow and paddle-like, with 10 to 15 soft rays; greatest distance between anterolateral angles of sphenotic bones is 15 to 23% of the standard length.[6] 10 to 13 Neuromasts in a supraorbital row, 2 to 4 neuromasts in the upper pre-opercular row, 3 to 5 neuromasts in the lower pre-opercular row, 10 to 13 in pectoral row, 29 to 42 in lateral line. The color of C. endeavouri is generally pink, reddish, orange, or rose-colored; some with pale diffuse spots of yellow or olive green.[5]

Reproduction and development

C. endeavouri lays eggs in buoyant mucous ribbon-like “rafts”.[7] These buoyant rafts are an excellent device for broadcasting a large number of small eggs over great geographic distances providing for development in relatively productive surface waters.[8]

After hatching, the larvae swim to the surface and feed on plankton. As they mature, they return to the depths below. The morphology of the larval stage seems to reflect an adaptation to a long larval life. The larvae are translucent, round and found in the pelagic zone, unlike the benthic, dorsoventrally compressed adults.[8]

Behavior

C. endeavouri has inflatable gills that it uses to fill its body with water, acting as a defense mechanism much like the pufferfish; it can also draw oxygen from the inhaled water for up to four minutes.[9]

Food Habits

Adults are ambush predators that use small lures above their snouts to attract small, invertebrate crustaceans to their mouths.[10] Little is known about the diet of larval and juvenile C. endeavouri, but they likely eat plankton during their pelagic stage.[7]

Perception

A very large number of lateral line canals allow the C. endeavouri to detect movement in their surroundings as they often live in low-visibility areas. This is especially beneficial as an ambush predator.[7]

Predation

There is evidence suggesting that various kinds of anglerfish – including large species – are consumed by larger predatory fishes such as sharks.[7]

Ecosystem roles

The C. endeavouri is a deep ocean, benthic predator of small crustaceans, like Acanthomysis microps, a deep sea shrimp.[11] And predated by deep sea piscivores like cow sharks.[7]

Economic importance

Chaunax have been bycatch for deep sea trawlers.[10]

Conservation

C. endeavouri was categorized as “High Risk” from oceanic trawlers in an Ecological Risk Assessment by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority due to their high susceptibility to trawlers (Being benthic) and relatively low productivity. However, they are non-threatened due to their wide area of distribution.[12]

References

2. Hoese, D.F., D.J. Bray, J.R. Paxton and G.R. Allen, 2006. Fishes. In Beasley, O.L. and A. Wells (eds.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia Part 1, pp. xxiv 1-670; Part 2, pp. xxi 671-1472; Part 3, pp. xxi 1473-2178.
3. May, J.L. and J.G.H. Maxwell, 1986. Trawl fish from temperate waters of Australia. CSIRO Division of Fisheries Research, Tasmania. 492 p.
4. "This odd deep-sea fish can hold its breath for four minutes". Animals. 27 June 2019.
5. Ho, Hsuan-Ching, et al. “A Review of the Anglerfish Genus Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae) from New Zealand and Adjacent Waters, with Descriptions of Four New Species.” Zootaxa, vol. 3620, no. 1, 2013, pp. 89–111., doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3620.1.4
6. Caruso, J.H. (1989) Systematics and distribution of Atlantic chaunacid anglerfishes (Pisces: Lophiiformes). Copeia, 1989 (1), 153–165. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1445616
7. Caruso, John H. and Theodore W. Pietsch. 2007. Chaunacidae. Coffinfishes, seatoads, gapers. Version 02 October 2007. http://tolweb.org/Chaunacidae/21997/2007.10.02 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
8. Lasker, R. (ed.) (1984).Marine Fish Larvae. Morphology, Ecology, and Relation to Fisheries. Seattle:Washington Sea Grant Program.
9. Long, Nicholas P., and Farina, Stacy C. “Enormous Gill Chambers of Deep‐Sea Coffinfishes (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae) Support Unique Ventilatory Specialisations Such as Breath Holding and Extreme Inflation.” Journal of Fish Biology, vol. 95, no. 2, 30 Aug. 2019, pp. 502–509., doi:10.1111/jfb.14003.
10. Quigley, D. T. G., et al. “First Record of the Toadfish Chaunax Suttkusi (Caruso, 1989) (Pisces: Lophiiformes, Chaunacidae) from Irish Waters, Together with a Review of North Eastern Atlantic Records of C. Suttkusi and C. Pictus (Lowe, 1846).” The Irish Naturalists' Journal, vol. 25, no. 6, 1996, pp. 221–224., www.jstor.org/stable/25535990.
11. Biju Abraham & Saramma U. Panampunnayil (2009). "Mysids (Crustacea) from the shallow waters off Maharashtra and south Gujarat, India, with description of a new species". Marine Biology Research. 5 (4): 345–362. doi:10.1080/17451000802454890
12. Wayte, S., Dowdney, J., Williams, A., Bulman, C., Sporcic, M., Fuller, M., Smith, A. (2007) Ecological Risk Assessment for the Effects of Fishing: Report for the otter trawl sub-fishery of the Commonwealth trawl sector of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery. Report for the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Canberra.