Shaggy frogfish
Amazing fact
The shaggy frogfish has thread-like skin growths scattered over its body and fins.
Museums Victoria / Fishes of Australia
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The shaggy frogfish has thread-like skin growths scattered over its body and fins.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Shaggy frogfish
- Scientific name
- Antennarius hispidus
- Japanese name
- ボンボリカエルアンコウ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Lophiiformes
- Family
- Antennariidae
- Genus
- Antennarius
Where the name “Shaggy frogfish” comes from
Its scientific genus name comes from a Latin word meaning a sensory organ on the head.
Museums Victoria / Fishes of AustraliaOn top of its head is a fishing-rod-like lure called an esca, which looks like food.
Unlike other frogfishes, its esca is a round ball said to look like a bonbori, which is how it got its name.
How the Shaggy frogfish lives
It ambushes prey without moving its body, twitching its lure irregularly in front of its mouth. It quickly gulps down prey that approaches the lure with its large mouth. Its eggs float in a jelly-like mass until they hatch. The newly hatched young spend time drifting in the water before settling on a reef.
Museums Victoria / Fishes of AustraliaWhere the Shaggy frogfish has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ボンボリカエルアンコウ
- 简体中文
- 毛躄鱼
- 繁體中文
- 毛躄魚
- Español
- Pez sapo peludo
- Deutsch
- Zottiger Anglerfisch
- Português (Brasil)
- Peixe-sapo-hispido
- Italiano
- Pesce rana ispido
- ไทย
- ปลากบลาย
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — ボンボリカエルアンコウChecked: 2026-11-04
- Museums Victoria / Fishes of Australia — Shaggy Anglerfish, Antennarius hispidusChecked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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