ABSTRACT
Goosefishes or monkfishes belong to the family Lophiidae and the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. Members of the order Lophiiformes are characterized in particular by the luring apparatus (illicium) used to attract prey (see Pietsch 1984, for other synapomorphies of this clade). The illicium is a specialized dorsal fin spine located anterodorsally on the head of juveniles and adults; it often bears a fleshy appendage (the esca) at the tip.
