Adult Antennarius maculatus develop warts over the face and body. Young individuals are smooth and highly variable in color and can be difficult to distinguish from young Antennarius pictus and A. commerson. We saw these at many sites in the Tulamben and Amed areas.
We see many more young ones than adults. It makes you wonder where they go when the grow up, if they in fact make to adulthood. For some time, most of these red-margined yellow and white ones and the orange-spotted black ones were considered to be young A. pictus but recent research has shown them to be A. maculatus instead. Another characteristic of young A. maculatus is reported to be the roughly triangular brownish patch behind the head with one of its points leading up to the posterior of the eye socket.
Close shot of the esca.
Created 20 March 2023