The Sargassum Fish (Histrio histrio) is a member of the frogfish family (Antennariidae), a group of small, globular fishes with stalked, grasping, limb-like pectoral fins with small gill openings behind the base, a trapdoor-like mouth high on the head, and a "fishing lure" (formed by the first dorsal spine) on the snout. The Sargassum Fish occurs worldwide in tropical and warm-temperate waters. It typically lives in open waters in close association with floating Sargassum Weed (Sargassum natans and S. fluitans), but is frequently blown into nearshore and bay waters during storms. (Boschung et al. 1983; Robins and Ray 1986) Although the Sargassum Fish is capable of swimming quite rapidly, it often crawls through the Sargassum Weed, using its pectoral fins like arms (Rothschild 2004).

Found near the surface, usually associated with floating objects (Ref. 26340) or Sargassum. Commonly blown into shore and bay waters during storms (Ref. 7251). Epipelagic (Ref. 58302). A solitary (Ref. 26340) and voracious predator (Ref. 5521). They feed on fishes and shrimps that seek refuge in the floating weeds (Ref. 48635). Oviparous. Eggs are bound in ribbon-like sheath or mass of gelatinous mucus called 'egg raft' or 'veil' (Ref. 6773, 48635).

Azores Exclusive Economic Zone, Chagos, European waters (ERMS scope), Gulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone, North West Atlantic, Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone, Reunion, Seychelles, South Africa (country), Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone

Indian Ocean: tip of South Africa eastward to Indian and Sri Lanka, including the Red Sea, Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius. Western Pacific: Hokkaido to tropical Australia (as far south as Perth in the west and Sydney in the east), including Taiwan, Philippines, Moluccas, southern Papua New Guinea, Guam, Tonga, New Caledonia and New Zealand; Mariana Islands in Micronesia (Ref. 1602). Occurrence in the eastern Pacific remains problematic. Northwest Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951). Western Atlantic: Gulf of Maine to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, Uruguay. Eastern Atlantic: Azores and off West Africa; record from Vardø, northern Norway (Düben & Koren 1846) is based on a straggler taken northward by the North Atlantic and Norwegian currents.

Western Atlantic: Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine, and Gulf Stream to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, Uruguay

The Sargassum Fish (Histrio histrio) occurs worldwide in tropical and warm-temperate waters. In the western Atlantic, it is found from Massachusetts, Bermuda, and the northern Gulf of Mexico and West Indies to southeastern Brazil. (Boschung et al. 1983; Robins and Ray 1986) A small number of specimens have been collected on several occasions off the Kona coast of Hawaii. The discovery of two small juveniles (both about 10 mm SL) here indicates that these specimens are the products of a breeding population rather than migrants from the west. (Pietsch et al. 1992).

The Sargassum Fish has the broadest longitudinal and latitudinal range of any frogfish. Its distribution largely coincides with that of floating Sargassum Weed, with which it is apparently an obligate associate. In the western Atlantic, this species extends from the Gulf of Maine to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, Uruguay. On the eastern side of the Atlantic, it is apparently quite rare; Pietsch and Grobecker (1987) reported specimens only from the Azores and off West Africa. An old record from Vardo, northern Norway, is likely based on a straggler carried northward by the North Atlantic and Norwegian currents. In the Indian Ocean, the Sargassum Fish is known from the tip of South Africa eastward to India and Sri Lanka, with verified records from the Red Sea, Madagascar, Reunion, and Mauritius. In the western Pacific and on the western margin of the Pacific plate, it occurs from Hokkaido, Japan, to tropical Australia (about as far south as Perth in the west and Sydney in the east), including Taiwan, the Philippines and Moluccas, and the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. There are rare but verified records from Guam, Tonga, New Caledonia, and the North Island of New Zealand. (Pietsch and Grobecker 1987; Pietsch et al. 1992 and references therein)

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Circumglobal in tropical and subtropical seas (including Red Sea, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mascarenes, Hawaiian Islands, Galapagos Archipelago), but except most of Eastern Pacific.

Tropical and subtropical, sometimes drifts far northward with the Gulf Stream.

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 13; Analspines: 0; Analsoft rays: 7 - 13

The Sargassum Fish is unscaled and (unusually for a frogfish) as a consequence has skin that is smooth rather than sandpapery. Its color is variable and changeable, depending on the amount of light and the mood of the fish. It is typically boldly patterned with mahogany brown on a yellowish to olive background, its mottled pattern helping it blend in with the Sargassum Weed in which it lives, but it may be almost black or predominantly yellow with dark spots and blotches. It has many fleshy tabs, the largest on the chin and belly. Its "lure" is a fleshy bulb with filaments attached to a short "pole". The lure is formed by the first dorsal spine; the second and third dorsal spines are large, depressible, and covered with skin bearing fleshy cirri (fingerlike protuberances). (Robins and Ray 1986).

Maximum size: 200 mm TL

20.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251))

The Sargassum Fish may reach a length of 20 cm, but rarely exceeds about half this size (Robins and Ray 1986).

to 20 cm TL (male/unsexed).

Color mottled green with numerous fleshy weed-like dermal appendages (Ref. 1602) blending with the floating Sargassum weed in which it is usually found. Illicium much shorter than 2nd dorsal spine. Esca globular with short filaments. Skin smooth, without dermal spinules; pectoral stalk free from body for most of its length (Ref. 26938).

Clings to floating @Sargassum@, commonly blown into shore and bay waters during storms (Ref. 7251). A voracious predator (Ref. 5521).

Type for Histrio histrio
Catalog Number: USNM 37434
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes
Collector(s): F. Poey
Locality: Cuba, Greater Antilles, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic

reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); marine; depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 58302), usually 0 - 2 m (Ref. 58302)

Occasionally found in Canadian Atlantic waters. Found to depths of 11 m, often near surface with floating objects like Sargassum.

nektonic

Depth range based on 396 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 345 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 4572
  Temperature range (°C): 2.258 - 28.409
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.176 - 28.453
  Salinity (PPS): 32.493 - 36.622
  Oxygen (ml/l): 2.895 - 6.053
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.034 - 1.751
  Silicate (umol/l): 0.769 - 34.597

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 0 - 4572

Temperature range (°C): 2.258 - 28.409

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.176 - 28.453

Salinity (PPS): 32.493 - 36.622

Oxygen (ml/l): 2.895 - 6.053

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.034 - 1.751

Silicate (umol/l): 0.769 - 34.597
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Habitat Type: Marine

Depth: 0 - 11m.
Recorded at 11 meters.

Habitat: pelagic.

Pelagic; marine; depth to 11 m. Found near the surface, usually associated with floating objects or Sargassum weed, and can be blown into shore and bay waters during storms. Solitary.

Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Found near the surface, usually associated with floating objects (Ref. 26340) or Sargassum. Commonly blown into shore and bay waters during storms (Ref. 7251). Epipelagic (Ref. 58302). A solitary (Ref. 26340) and voracious predator (Ref. 5521). Feeds on fishes and shrimps that seek refuge in the floating weeds (Ref. 48635).

predatory.

Oviparous. During courtship, the male follows the female closely then both rush to the surface to spawn (Ref. 205). At this point, eggs are produced in a gelatinous floating mass or 'raft' and inseminated by the male. The eggs remain embedded in this raft until hatching (Ref. 240).

Female produces eggs that raft together in open water, which are then fertilized by a male.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


There are 13 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.


Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 18
Specimens with Barcodes: 38
Species With Barcodes: 1

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Not Evaluated

fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: commercial

The only commercial value of the Sargassum Fish is in the aquarium trade (Boschung et al. 1983).