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There are no means to differ the male and female frogfish, for example by coloration or size except by examining the gonads by dissection.
About 8 to 12 hours prior to spawning, the female begins to fill up with eggs (40'000 to 180'000 eggs). This proceeds at a rapid rate so that shortly before spawning she is so distended, it is hard for her to maintain her position on the bottom. She becomes buoyant (tail up as shown) and is followed around closely by the male. The male continues to nudge the female in the abdomen, and they move quickly to the surface, where spawning occurs.
Parenting ends with mating. The thousands of eggs are released as an epipelagic egg raft (or veil), that drifts for several days and then sinks to the bottom after the embryos hatch. The planktonic stage lasts probably 1 to 2 months. Juvenile frogfish look like smaller versions of their adult forms, but some show special defensive colors.
A few frogfish species (mostly living in Australia) show special parental care for their eggs. For example Lophiocharon trisignatus has fewer but larger eggs than other frogfish species. The male attaches a cluster of eggs with a threadlike structure to the surface of his body and carries them around until they hatch. The eggs of Tetrabrachium ocellatum (Four-armed frogfish or Humpback anglerfish) are wrapped around the dorsal fins which are specially hooked. Since a lot of fish like to eat eggs, these eggs might enhance considerably the overall luring effect of a frogfish. One of the mating pair of Phyllophryne scortea stays close to guard their eggs. Would-be predators lured into the range by the embryos are known to be eaten by the parent frogfish! Histiophryne cryptacanthus and H. bougainvilli hide the cluster of eggs in a pocket formed by the pectoral fin and the tail which is bent around.
Probably it is very difficult for frogfishes to find a partner in the deep sea. That is why the deep-sea angler (Families Ceratiidae, Caulophrynidae, Photocorynidae, Linophrynidae and Melanocetidae) shows a very strange sexual dimorphism. The male specimen is very small and attaches itself to the body of the female. The teeth and the jaw recede and the blood circulating of the two animals become one. The male frogfish spends the rest of his life attached to the female.
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Baby Frogfishes
The juvenile clown frogfish (A. maculatus) and the juvenile giant frogfish (A. commerson) are said to mimic a distasteful flatworm, complete with undulating dorsal fins to simulate the swimming worm. Frogfishes are not poisonous but sometimes inflate their body by swallowing water so they can't be swallowed due to its increased girth.
Juvenile clown frogfish is luring by moving its second dorsal spine instead of its rod and lure. Other juvenile frogfishes seem to lure more frequently than the adult frogfishes. Especially the larger frogfish species change the way they hunt while growing. Young frogfishes hide a lot (like the smaller frogfish species). Very large frogfishes (A. commerson, A. multiocellatus) stay at the same place for a long time when they are grown up, so you will find them there during several dives.
Credits to Copyright Teresa Zubi
