Bottom-dwelling Monkfish Will Eat Unlucky Puffins During Occasional Shallow Water Swims

Call it a long-distance dinner date.

Monkfish, the toothy, deep-water fish known for their distinctive, modified fin that functions as a "fishing pole" which dangles in front of their mouths, have been documented eating a small species of puffin called a dovekie that only ever swims near the ocean surface.

The bottom-dwelling monkfish typically stay partially buried in sand on the ocean floor and lure prey with their fishing apparatus. But after the remains of 14 dovekies were discovered in 14 separate monkfish bellies, researchers were surprised to learn that a deep-water fish was preying on a shallow-feeding bird in offshore waters, and sought to determine when, where and how the predation was occurring.

As it turns out, it is all a matter of timing. The monkfish apparently don't hunt the dovekies, but they do occasionally swim up from the depths to more shallow waters. And if a dovekie happens to be in the monkfish's path, the fish will eat it.

"One thing we know is that dovekies cannot dive to the bottom in 300 to 400 feet of water," said lead author Matthew Perry, a research wildlife biologist at the USGS Patuxtent Wildlife Research Center, according to a news release. "[Monkfish] probably come up from the ocean bottom to within 10 to 20 feet of the water surface at night. As dovekies dive for amphipods, small crustaceans, in the morning at first light, [monkfish] seize the opportunity and might use their 'fishing lure' to simulate one of these prey species by attracting the dovekies with their typical 'sit and wait' behavior."

Since the monkfish is also known as a goosefish, study co-author Anne Richards said it is not surprising to find birds in the fish stomachs, but it is surprising to find that this predation occurs over deep water, she said. "Goosefish do not actively seek out the dovekies, but when such tasty morsels are available in the water column, the fish are going to consume them."

Their research is published in the Northeastern Naturalist.