Longlure frogfish

Photo: terence zahner · CC BY-NC

Longlure frogfish at Dragon Bay use their modified first dorsal spine — the illicium — as a fishing rod, twitching a fleshy lure to attract small fish and shrimp within lunging range. They can swallow prey up to twice their own body size in a strike lasting under six milliseconds, the fastest strike of any vertebrate. Masters of camouflage, they match their colour to the surrounding sponge or coral and are often invisible until they move.