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Identification Key Frogfishes

Hawaii

For a overwiew of all frogfishes from this area click here.

Question: Which size?

Over 10cm length

Antennarius commerson and Antennarius pictus are the frogfishes most commenly found in Hawaii. They like to sit on exposed areas and are quite large. Unfortunately they both belong to the so called Pictus-group and it is quite difficult to distinguish them. Means of identification for frogfishes of the Antennarius pictus group.

Antennarius commerson (Giant frogfish)

		Information 30cm

Antennarius pictus (Painted frogfish)

		Information 10-16cm

Over 10cm length and striped

Antennarius striatus and Histrio histrio are the only striped frogfishes in Hawaii. Histrio histrio has very large ventral fins. Antennarius striatus has a very large esca that looks like a worm.

Antennarius striatus (Striped or hairy frogfish)

		Information 18-22cm

Histrio histrio (Sargassumfish - Sargasso Anglerfisch)

		Information 20cm

Around 10cm length

Abantennarius drombus and Abantennarius nummifer both belong to the genus Abantennarius (formerly Antennatus) and are difficult to distinguish from each other. Here some characteristics that might help with an identification:

Abantennarius drombus - Lacks distinct tail base (dorsal and anal fins end at base of tail fin)
Abantennarius nummifer - has a large darkly pigmented basidorsal spot. The lure can have different shapes, but is mostly small and most of the time round but sometimes with filaments and dark swellings.

Abantennarius drombus (Freckled Frogfish - Sommersprossen Anglerfisch)

		Information 3-8cm

Abantennarius nummifer (Spotfin frogfish)

		Information 10cm

Under 10cm length

The following frogfishes are very small and are often overlooked by divers. Only a few pictures exist - so if you have a photo, please write me.

Antennarius randalli is a tiny frogfish and is identified by the round white spots which are positioned on the body and on the tail.

Antennarius randalli (Randall's frogfish)

		Information 1.5-2cm

Abantennarius analis (Tail-Jet Frogfish)

		Information 3-7cm

Abantennarius duescus (Side-Jet frogfish)

		Information 3cm

Antennatus linearis has a lot of very fine lines on the entire body.

Antennatus linearis (Pygmy frogfish)

		Information 7.5cm

Antennatus tuberosus shows honeycomb patterns on its skin, its color is yellow, redish and pink and it has a striped tail.

Antennatus tuberosus (Bandfin frogfish)

		Information 7cm

This identification key is only for species of the subfamily Antennariinae (frogfishes, family Antennariidae, suborder Antennarioidei) which are frogfishes living in tropical and Subtropical waters.
Please take note, that this is a simplified identification key. Ichthyologists use tables with the number of dorsal, anal and pectoral rays, the length of the illicium and other distinguishing characteristics for means of identification.