Goosefish
Goosefish is a large North Atlantic anglerfish, also called American monkfish. It attracts prey with a fleshy appendage above its enormous mouth.
Illicium: The modified first dorsal-fin spine that forms an anglerfish’s fishing rod. Goosefish use this spine to position the fleshy lure above the mouth.
Lophius: A genus of large, broad-headed marine anglerfishes found in the Atlantic and nearby seas. Goosefish are members of this genus, whose species share a flattened ambush-predator form.
Monkfish cuisine: Culinary use of monkfish flesh, especially the firm tail meat sold in seafood markets. Goosefish is marketed as American monkfish and valued for its tail meat.
Blackbellied angler: A European anglerfish species, Lophius budegassa, with a dark lining inside its belly. It is a close relative often sold under the same monkfish name in Europe.
Esca: The fleshy or luminous lure at the tip of an anglerfish’s illicium. Its movement attracts prey within striking distance of the goosefish’s jaws.
Lophius americanus: The scientific name for the American goosefish, a North Atlantic species of anglerfish. This is the species commonly meant by goosefish in North American usage.
Monkfish liver: The liver of monkfish, used as food in several coastal cuisines. Goosefish liver is an edible product distinct from the commonly sold tail.
Lophius piscatorius: The European anglerfish, a large northeast Atlantic species in the genus Lophius. This familiar European monkfish is related to, but distinct from, American goosefish.
Suction feeding: A feeding method that draws prey into a mouth through rapidly generated negative pressure. Goosefish can engulf prey quickly when it approaches the lure.
Lophiiformes: The order of bony fishes commonly known as anglerfishes. This order places goosefish among diverse marine fishes with specialized lures.