Yellow goosefish
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The fish commonly eaten as “ankou” is the yellow goosefish.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Yellow goosefish
- Scientific name
- Lophius litulon
- Japanese name
- キアンコウ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Lophiiformes
- Family
- Lophiidae
- Genus
- Lophius
A fish that lives on the seafloor in deep water off the coasts of Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu.
It waves a dorsal fin that has turned into something like a fishing rod, and catches animals that mistake it for food with its huge mouth.
Its eggs are wrapped in a jelly-like ribbon that drifts in the water and is sometimes called a 'heavenly maiden's robe'.
Basic data
- Size
- up to 1.5 m
- Range
- Sea of Japan and Pacific coasts from Hokkaido to southern Kyushu
Where the Yellow goosefish 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
- キアンコウ
- 简体中文
- 黄鮟鱇
- 繁體中文
- 黃鮟鱇
- 한국어
- 황아귀
- Español
- Rape amarillo
- Português (Brasil)
- Tamboril-japonês
- Italiano
- Rana pescatrice cinese
- Русский
- Дальневосточный морской чёрт
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- アクアマリンふくしま — キアンコウChecked: 2026-11-03
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.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeRELATIVES
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