Aside from lophiids, which are highly esteemed as food-fishes and utilized fresh, frozen, or for fishmeal and oil, lophiiforms have limited economic value and are generally not considered an exploitable source of animal protein. Antennariids, and to a smaller extent ogcocephalids, are utilized by the aquarium trade. Ceratioids have occasionally been recorded as food items for predatory fishes (e.g., Thunnus, and the lancetfishes Aphanopus carbo and Alepisaurus ferox; Maul, 1961, 1962; Matthews et al., 1977) and whales (e.g., sperm whales, Physeter catodon; Clarke, 1950, 1956; Penrith, 1967) but they are not known to constitute the principal or preferred diet of any species.