Coffinfish Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Rounded, balloon-like body with a somewhat square, "coffin" shaped profile
• Loose, baggy skin covered in small, soft spines, giving a slightly prickly texture
• Reddish-orange to pale pink coloration
• Small illicium (fishing lure) that can be retracted into a groove on top of the head when not in use
• Large, upturned mouth positioned near the front of the flattened face
• Modified, fleshy pectoral and pelvic fins used to "walk" slowly across the seafloor rather than swim

Common look-alikes

• Batfish (Ogcocephalidae): also walk on fin "legs" and carry a small lure, but have a flat, disc-shaped body rather than the coffinfish's rounded, inflated one.
• Frogfish (Antennariidae): share a similar lure-and-ambush strategy, but live in shallow reef habitats and have a more laterally compressed, mottled camouflage body.
• Other deep-sea anglerfish: generally more globular or elongate, and lack the coffinfish's distinctive loose, spiny, box-like skin texture.

Where you'll see one

Coffinfish are found on continental slopes and outer shelves worldwide, typically between about 200 and 2,000 meters, where they sit camouflaged on soft sediment and use their small retractable lure to draw in curious prey.