National Geography has recently released a video of a frog fish preying. Apart from being exceptionally filmed, the one-minute-thirty-second-long video is a manifestation of venial deception. It shows a brilliantly camouflaged frog fish, hiding among mounds of seaweed, attacking a cardinal fish and devouring it in no time.
Frog fishes, who belong to anglerfish family Antennariidae, are masters of deception. These small, short and stocky creatures are generally covered with a variety of appendages, ranging from spinules to hairy projections.
In the video, a striated or hairy frogfish is seen in full-fledged action. Its greenish-yellow color makes it impossible to spot this killer crawling the seabed. When watched carefully, viewers can only spot its uncanny multi-colored eyes and gaping mouth.
What is more shocking is the deceptive way the predatory fish captures its meal. When the creature spots a cardinal fish roaming nearby it swiftly positions itself against boulders covered in seaweed, blending in completely. Then it plays the most heinous trick. It uses its esca (a fleshy growth from the head), shaking it vigorously, giving it an appearance of a worm and luring the prey straight into its mouth.
And that is exactly what happened, the prey rushed towards the frog fish thinking it has got a tasty meal of sea worm. However, before it could realize its fatal mistake, the extremely skillful predator strikes fast, swallowing its meal completely. As the frogfish chews the helpless prey, we see small fleshy particles coming out from its mouth.
This video shows exactly how cruel the animal world is, without any room for a second chance. If you are not attentive enough, you will become someone's meal at any time.
Check out the video here:
Watch this frog fish lure its prey—and don't blink pic.twitter.com/sOzJrGDhEV
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) November 8, 2017
