Angler fish (monkfish): what it looks like, at what depth it lives, photos, videos

Here we have collected a lot of information about the anglerfish - a mysterious inhabitant of the depths, the monkfish. Life at great depths did not provide the opportunity to study this interesting inhabitant of the seas in detail. It is now known that the formidable monster is distinguished by its repulsive appearance, unusual method of hunting and the strange relationship of the male with the female.

Full name	Anglerfish - Anglerfish Scientists call it: Lophius (Lofius)
Types (number)	There are 120 species, of which: ● 17 – smooth-fronted anglerfish; ● 1 – blackmouth; ● 7 – monkfish; ● 3 – sweets and other types.
Color	The back is brown, with a green-brown or red tint. Body with dark spots to camouflage on the bottom. The belly is white.
Water	Sea cool
Feed	Females eat: ● crustaceans and cephalopods; ● gerbils; ● small stingrays and sharks; ● cod and eel; ● flounder, herring and mackerel, sometimes birds. Males, to the point of parasitism, feed on crustaceans and chaetognaths.
At what depth does it live?	Adult sea devils descend to 20-700 m. Some live at a depth of 1.5–3 km, sometimes 5.
Compatibility	They are kept separately in the aquarium. There are few enemies in nature; most often they are larger fish and shellfish.
Lifespan	Long-lived - deep-sea monkfish, lives 3 decades. Black-bellied anglerfish - 20 years, Cape monkfish - 10 years.

Origin of the species and description

Sea devils or anglerfish belong to the genus of ray-finned fish, the family of anglerfish. In English they are called anglers (Anglerfishes) for the “fishing rod” above their heads.

All types have common features:

The males are significantly smaller in size than the females.
Flattened body with a prominent head and narrow tail.
Small eyes are located on the sides of the head at a considerable distance from each other.
The skin without scales with numerous tubercles, skin and bone processes is covered with a mucous layer. The growths resemble moss, needles, and warts.
The huge mouth is studded with sharp, concave teeth.
With the help of pectoral fins, the fish moves and jumps along the bottom.
In most species, the anterior part of the dorsal fin is transformed into an illicium, at the end of which there is a gland enclosed in a sac (esca).

The habitat chosen is the bottom, where it is possible to burrow into the ground. Some individuals prefer to be among algae and scattered rocks. Anglerfish live in places covered with different types of soil: sand, gravel, clay, silt, remains of mollusks and shells.

Interesting fact!
Anglerfish are a eurybatic type of aquatic animal, which means that the same species can exist at different depths, which depends on their habitat, water temperature and amount of food.

One of the most interesting inhabitants of the deep sea is the angler fish.

Sea devils: description

Appearance

The European monkfish grows to almost 2 meters in length, although most individuals are found that are no more than one and a half meters long. The largest weight of adults is within 60 kg. The fish has no scales, and its body is covered with numerous skin growths, as well as bone formations. The body shape is strongly flattened and slightly compressed in the back and belly. The eyes are not large and widely located on the head. The back is colored brownish, greenish-brownish or reddish, with dark spots.

The American anglerfish grows to a length of 1 meter or slightly more, and the average weight of adults is about 23 kilograms. The black-bellied anglerfish is a deep-sea fish that grows up to 1 meter in length and no more. The Western Atlantic anglerfish is more modest in size and reaches a length of 0.6 meters, no more. The Burmese monkfish is characterized as a fish with a huge, strongly flattened head and a short tail. Its length is less than 30% of the total body length. Adults grow up to 1 meter in length.

Interesting to know! Monkfish is a rather interesting representative of the underwater world. The anglerfish moves little along the bottom, making peculiar jumps, which is possible due to the presence of strong pectoral fins.

The Far Eastern anglerfish is distinguished by the fact that it can grow up to one and a half meters, while it has a large, wide and flat head. Naturally, his mouth is simply huge, and his lower jaw is pushed forward somewhat, with several rows of teeth located on it. This species of anglerfish also has no scales, and the pelvic fins are located at the beginning of the head. The pectoral fins are quite wide and have a fairly powerful blade. The first three rays, which form the dorsal fin, are located separately. The upper part of the body is distinguished by a brown tint, as well as the presence of white spots surrounded by a dark border. The lower region of the body has a characteristic light shade.

Character and lifestyle

Scientists suggest that sea devils appeared on our planet about 100 million years ago. Despite this fact, these fish could not be fully studied. Therefore, it is not known exactly about the unique behavioral traits of these fish.

Interesting fact! The anglerfish hunts through fast jumps, which are helped by powerful pectoral fins. If he overtakes his victim, he immediately swallows it with his huge mouth.

For humans, monkfish does not pose any danger, especially since it prefers to live at considerable depths. After spawning, the angler fish still rises to the surface and can pose a certain danger to divers. When the monkfish is hungry, it can easily bite a person’s hand or leg.

How long do anglerfish live?

There is evidence that the American anglerfish lives on average about 30 years, and the black-bellied fish can live in the wild for about 20 years. The Cape monkfish lives no more than 10 years.

IS SMOKE DANGEROUS FOR HUMANS?

Species of monkfish

The anglerfish family is represented by several species, such as:

American anglerfish (Lophius americanus).
Black-bellied anglerfish (South European) or budegassa anglerfish (Lophius budegassa).
Western Atlantic anglerfish (Lophius gastrophysus).
Far Eastern anglerfish (Lophius litulon).
European anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius).

There are also: the South African anglerfish (Lophius vaillanti), the Cape anglerfish (Lophius vomerinus), as well as the extinct species Lophius brachysomus Agassiz.

Natural habitats

The black-bellied anglerfish can be found in the eastern waters of the Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and the British Isles, as well as in the Black and Mediterranean seas.

The Western Atlantic monkfish lives in the western waters of the Atlantic, where it lives at depths of up to 700 meters, sticking to the bottom region.

The American monkfish is found in the northwest Atlantic, which is typical of the North American Atlantic coast. The anglerfish lives at depths of up to 650 meters. Closer to the northern part of the coast, this fish does not stick to greater depths, but closer to the southern part, this fish is found even in the coastal zone.

The European anglerfish inhabits the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which wash Europe, from the Barents Sea and Iceland to the Gulf of Guinea, the Black, North and Baltic seas.

The Far Eastern anglerfish is a representative of the waters of the Sea of Japan. It is also found off the coast of Korea, in Peter the Great Bay, and also within the island of Honshu. Some of the population is distributed in the waters of the Okhotsk and Yellow Seas, as well as the East China and South China Seas, including the Japanese coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Diet of monkfish

Basically, sea devils are in ambush, waiting for their next victim. As a rule, they bury themselves almost completely in the bottom soil and it is almost impossible to spot such a predator. The diet of anglerfish includes various types of fish, cephalopods, including cuttlefish and squid.

All sea devils, by the nature of their behavior, belong to classic predators. In their stomachs they found the remains of such living creatures as gerbils, small stingrays, cod, small sharks, flounder, etc. Rising from the bottom closer to the surface, anglers hunt for mackerel and herring. There have been cases when anglerfish attacked feathered birds that were calmly moving on the surface of the water.

Important fact! When the anglerfish opens its huge mouth, a low pressure is formed in the mouth, which literally sucks the victim in a split second along with the flow of water.

The monkfish has a unique body coloration, so it is difficult to notice even when it is just lying on the bottom. At the same time, it also buries itself in the ground, putting out its fishing rod (that’s why the fish was called an anglerfish), at the end of which there is a luminous live bait that attracts various representatives of the underwater world that are part of the monkfish’s diet. When a potential prey gets too close to the bait, the monkfish instantly opens its huge mouth, and the prey immediately finds itself inside this mouth.

Reproduction and offspring

Different species of monkfish also differ in that they begin to reproduce at different periods of their lives. Males of the European anglerfish become sexually mature at the age of about 6 years, while females become sexually mature when they reach 14 years old, growing up to 1 meter in length. European anglers also spawn at different times: individuals living in northern waters go to spawn in March and spawning lasts until May, and individuals inhabiting southern waters go to spawn in January, with spawning lasting until the beginning of summer .

When angler fish begin spawning, females and males can descend to a depth of up to 2 thousand meters. Having found a suitable place, the female begins to spawn, and the male immediately fertilizes her. After the spawning process, females and males leave the spawning grounds and go to shallow water, where they begin to actively feed. This process lasts until the beginning of autumn. Sea devils winter at impressive depths.

The fish lays eggs in peculiar ribbons, which are covered with a thick layer of mucus. Each type of anglerfish forms ribbons of a certain width and length. The average width of such a tape is 70 cm, and its length can be up to 10 meters. The thickness of such tape is within 5 mm. The ribbons formed in this way move freely in the water column under the influence of the current. The clutch of anglerfish is unique, since millions of eggs are located in one layer, at a certain distance from each other, while the eggs are located inside mucous cells in the form of hexagons.

After time, the cell walls are destroyed. Inside each egg there are fat drops that prevent the eggs from settling to the bottom. Therefore, the eggs continue to migrate in the water column. The emerging monkfish fry have some differences from adult individuals: their body is not yet flattened, and the pectoral fins are relatively large.

After birth, the fish fry rise to the upper layers of the water, where they will stay for about 2 weeks. The diet of juveniles includes small crustaceans that are found in the water column, fry of other fish species and pelagic caviar.

Interesting to know! The eggs of the European anglerfish are quite large and measure about 4 mm in size, while those of the American anglerfish are quite small and reach a diameter of up to 1.8 mm.

The process of growth and development of monkfish larvae is characterized by peculiar transformations, which are associated with changes in the structure of the body shape, which is characteristic of sexually mature individuals. Upon reaching a certain length, young individuals sink to the bottom. Grown young animals can be found at medium depths, and sometimes near the coastline in the shallows. In the first year of life, monkfish experience the most active growth, after which this process slows down.

Natural enemies of anglerfish

Angler fish, by their nature, are considered to be quite greedy and gluttonous creatures, which often leads to their death. As mentioned above, the monkfish has a rather huge mouth, just like its stomach is huge. Therefore, monkfish can hunt very large prey.

It is important to know! This fish has practically no natural enemies, since the monkfish can perfectly camouflage itself, and yes, it lives at considerable depths.

The anglerfish has large and sharp teeth, allowing it to hold prey in a death grip that may not fit into its stomach. As a result of such greed, the fish often choke and die prematurely. There have been cases when prey was found in the stomach of a monkfish, which was almost comparable to the size of the fish itself.

Population and species status

The European anglerfish is a popular commercial fish due to the fact that its meat is white, has a dense texture and has virtually no bones. Up to 30 thousand tons of this valuable fish are caught annually. To catch it, deep-sea trawls, gill nets and bottom longlines are used. The most massive catch takes place within France and England.

Interesting fact! All anglers, including the European one, have an unattractive, and sometimes repulsive, appearance. Despite this, the meat of this predator has excellent taste.

Angler fish meat is not fatty, has a pleasant taste, is tender and has a soft consistency. Unfortunately, when cutting monkfish, most of the fish goes to waste, since the main value is the tail part of the monkfish.

The Western Atlantic anglerfish is also a valuable commercial fish, although it is caught much less than the European anglerfish, only about 9 thousand tons per year. This type of fish is mainly caught within Brazil. Several years ago, Greenpeace designated the American anglerfish as one of its special list of overfished and endangered seafood. Not only the meat of this fish is valued, but also its liver, which is considered a real delicacy. Thanks to such valuable qualities, monkfish populations began to decline significantly. Due to this fact, the trade in monkfish meat was banned in England.

Fiends of Hell - Deep Sea Anglerfish (monkfish)

Appearance

The anglerfish's skin is not covered with scales, but it has mucus on it for protection. There are numerous bone and skin growths on the surface. The body is disproportionate in size and has a flattened shape. The back and tail are significantly narrower than the head. On land, the shape of the fish changes, the body swells, the eyes bulge.

The pectoral fins are quite wide and hard, located in the front part of the body, serving as a support. The first grown ray of the dorsal fin is located directly above the mouth. It serves as bait when hunting. In the vast majority of species, the rod is tilted forward and is located near the mouth. At the end of the illicium there is a gland filled with mucus with luminous bacteria, providing light flashes on the bait.

The fish controls outbreaks by dilating and constricting blood vessels. Thanks to this, bacteria receive the oxygen necessary for their life, and the iron functions due to blood flow.

The head occupies up to 70% of the entire body, surrounded by leathery processes, which are also located along the jaw and lips. When moving, an imitation of the movement of algae is created, which helps the anglerfish camouflage itself.

The ridge is brown in color, sometimes mixed with green or red tones. Depending on the species, there may be spots darker or lighter than the main integumentary color. The belly is always light, almost white.

Habitats

Monkfish lives in many seas and oceans. The European anglerfish is widespread in the Atlantic Ocean. Here it lives at a depth of 20 meters or more . It is also caught along the coast of European water bodies, in the Barents and North Seas.

Monkfish mainly lives in the Atlantic Ocean, at a depth of 20 meters.

Far Eastern fish species are often found near Japan and Korea. They live in the South China, Yellow and Okhotsk seas. The comfortable depth for them is 40-200 meters.

Hatched young fish differ from adult fish. At first, the fry feed on plankton, live in the upper layers of the reservoir, and when they reach a length of 10 cm, they change appearance. Then they move closer to the bottom and begin to lead a predatory lifestyle. In the first year after birth they grow very quickly.

Not long ago, related species of anglerfish were discovered. They began to be called deep-sea anglers. Individuals can withstand very high water pressure and are found at a depth of about 2 km.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=FWSq6DDGcrE

Species of monkfish

Anglerfish are divided into eleven families, which together number more than 120 different representatives. They all have common features, but their differences lie in size, weight and appearance. The habitats also differ.

Among the anglers, the most common representatives are:

American. The size is on average 90-120 cm and weight is about 20 kg.
Black-bellied or Southern European. Length - 50-10 cm.
European. Grows up to two meters. These are females with the maximum detected sizes; on average, the length of most females is one and a half meters. Moreover, females can weigh up to 60 kg.
Western Atlantic. Does not exceed 60 cm in length.
Far Eastern. It reaches 1.5 m in length.
South African.
Cape. It is characterized by a very wide, strongly flattened front part, which tapers in the thoracic region and turns into a short narrow tail. Its length is no more than 1 m. Lophius brachysomus Agassiz is considered an extinct species.

Reproduction and breeding

The ability to reproduce in monkfish is different. The European anglerfish is ready for fertilization at the age of 6, and the female when she turns 14. It is interesting that northern fish spawn in the spring, and the inhabitants of the southern seas - from winter to summer. To lay eggs, the female goes down, and the male immediately begins to fertilize it. The size of the eggs varies from 2 to 4.5 mm.

It is difficult to breed anglerfish in a home aquarium, because there are problems with introducing partners.

Sex differences

The body of females is larger than that of males. Their length is 1-1.5 m. The male's body is only 3 cm and is similar to a tadpole. The female has a wide mouth and a stretchable stomach, so she is able to eat someone even larger in size. Females lure fish with the help of a luminous fishing rod, which males cannot boast of. But they have developed vision and sense of smell to find a friend.

Features of reproduction

In secluded spawning areas, the fish leaves long sticky ribbons of eggs covered with mucus. The tape is up to 1 m wide, up to 10-12 m long. The layer is only half a centimeter thick, because millions of eggs are arranged in a single layer and placed in 6-sided cells. These ribbons float with the flow without parental supervision.

The cells dissolve over time, and the eggs, with a drop of fat inside to prevent them from drowning, continue to float freely.

The hatched fry live in warm (20%) water, eating crustaceans and bristle-jawed inhabitants. Having become 8 mm fry, they go deeper, descending up to 1 km.

Male parasitism

A parasitic male on the body of a female.
Throughout its life, the deep-sea sea devil looks for a female who attracts him with pheromones.
Having found it, carefully so as not to eat it, it swims up and attaches itself to it with the help of its frequent small teeth. Having attached itself, it remains there and, gradually, becomes one with the body of its friend, turning into a parasite. In return, it releases germ cells to fertilize the eggs. Thus, 2-3 more males attach themselves. Over time, the parasites die and become keratinized growths.

Features of keeping in an aquarium

Of interest to aquarists are small anglerfish belonging to the clown fish family. Their natural habitat is the subtropical and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. They prefer reef surfaces at depths of up to 0.3 km. On average, their length is 20 cm, the size of some individuals varies from 5 to 40 cm.

The colors of clowns are varied. They can be yellow, red, brown and almost black with dark or light spots. They do not have a swim bladder, so clowns are poor swimmers. The fins are used to move along the bottom, but walking is also difficult for the fish; they move carefully and very slowly along the corals and the bottom.

Basically, clown fish in an aquarium are inactive and are more often in a state of rest or hunting. The lack of movement does not interfere with food; prey is attracted by a bait appendage on the head and is instantly sucked into the predator’s mouth.

Note!
Clowns need a separate aquarium; other species become prey for predators. Clownfish have very sensitive skin structures that can be damaged by other fish or corals.

About 300 liters of water is enough for one individual. It is recommended to keep each fish separately. Optimal conditions in the aquatic environment:

temperature - 24-27 degrees;
pH - 8.1-8.4;
salinity - 1.020-1.025.

Fish are sensitive to water quality and minor deviations in its physical and chemical composition can have a detrimental effect on the inhabitants of the aquarium.

Meals should consist of fresh fish. Frozen foods or specialized food are difficult to introduce into the diet of aquatic pets. The amount of food for each individual is determined separately. Fish are quite voracious, however, they should not be overfed.

Anglers need a species aquarium without other fish and invertebrates

Why does an angler need a flashlight?

In the depths of the ocean there is a fierce struggle for survival. Environmental conditions cannot be called favorable for life: cold, darkness, enormous water pressure, oxygen deficiency. The edible inhabitants of the abyss are few in number and try to hide well from their predatory pursuers.

To find prey for lunch, a predator needs to interest it in something. For these purposes, the monkfish uses a luminous “light bulb” at the end of the elongated dorsal fin. The long rod-shaped outgrowth is called illicium. The role of a lantern is played by a leathery sac filled with mucus. Luminescent bacteria live and multiply inside the tank. The fish can manipulate the flame, expanding and contracting blood vessels at will. When the blood vessels are compressed, the bacteria are deprived of oxygen entering the skin gland through the bloodstream, and the light goes out. Vasodilation allows you to “turn on the light bulb.” As a result, the glow looks like Morse code signals - a series of long and short flashes.

To lure prey, the anglerfish must lie down on the ocean floor and hide, blending into the background of silt and algae. The predator then turns on and off the light at the end of the rod. This blinking looks like glare on the scales of swimming small fish. Curious fish swim closer to the light and find a terrible death in the teeth of the deep monster. The capture process is very fast, counting in milliseconds.

The difference between external and internal pressure gives the hunter an additional advantage. Thanks to this feature, a powerful stream of water arises, which drags the prey directly into the mouth of the predator. If necessary, to overtake prey, which, out of caution, is kept at a safe distance, the hunter can jump far forward from his shelter. To jump, the predator uses the reactive force of jets of water, which it passes through its gills.

The monster does not suffer from lack of appetite. The monkfish is able to include in its diet prey that is three times its length. The anglerfish's stomach stretches to the desired size, but it is still not rubber. It happens that a hunter chokes to death on his own prey because it is too large, and the teeth curved inward do not allow him to spit out the prey back. The anglerfish feeds variedly. In the stomachs of various representatives of this type of fish, mackerel, cod, flounder, small stingrays and small sharks were found.

The anglerfish rises to the surface of the water during the spawning period, when it intensively gains weight. There are witnesses to cases where an anglerfish jumped out of the water to swallow a large seabird, which it could not digest and subsequently died.

In different species of anglerfish, the attachment location of the process with the luminous sac may differ. Ceratias holboelli controls its long fin, retracting it inside the body at will so as not to slow down its movement. Galatheathauma axeli holds illicium in its mouth.

Interesting Facts

This unusual bottom fish is interesting in many ways:

The nickname “monkfish” comes from the Spanish conquistadors crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They decided that they had caught a sea devil because of the frightening structure of the fish. Now this name is also applicable in the scientific world.
The process of the dorsal fin, often called the “fishing rod,” glows thanks to the bacteria found in it.
The fish moves along the bottom by jumping due to thrusts by the pectoral and pelvic fins, articulated with each other. In addition, jumping is possible as a result of the ejection of a pressurized stream of water through the gills.
European anglerfish (monkfish) are caught on an industrial scale. According to available data, more than 20 thousand tons of fish are caught per year. It is considered a delicacy due to its unusual taste and meat, which has very few bones.
When the anglerfish's mouth opens, a kind of pressure is created, due to which the prey, along with the water, is very quickly sucked inside the fish.
The males of the four families of anglerfish are unique among all animals in their special parasitism. To fertilize a female, the male attaches itself to her body and becomes an appendage that produces sperm.
The size of the eggs varies for each type of fish. The largest is typical for the European species - up to 0.4 cm.
The anglerfish's jaw is only capable of swallowing food. Sea devils cannot cope with chewing and biting due to the fragility of their teeth.
On the surface of the water or on land when caught, the shape of the fish differs from the real one. Due to a sharp change in atmospheric pressure, the entire body swells, the eyes become more protruding, and the lower jaw stands out noticeably.

Diseases and prevention

Marine aquarium fish easily pick up infections that are spread by viruses, fungi and bacteria. When infected with viruses, fish suffer from viral necrosis of erythrocytes or lymphocystis. The appearance of dangerous bacteria causes disease:

furunculosis
aeromonosis
pseudomonosis
Edward's disease
Tuberculosis
streptococcosis
vibriosis;
myxobacteriosis.

The appearance of parasites causes disease:

oodinosis;
cryptobiosis;
brooklynellosis;
cryptokaryosis or trichodinosis.

To prevent infection, you should carefully monitor that pathogens do not enter the aquarium. To do this, you need to properly care for the inhabitants and their home, monitor the temperature and composition of the water. Do cleaning in a timely manner, change the water, and feed the fish correctly.

Monkfish in cooking

Monkfish is suitable both for frying in pieces and for frying in layers on the grill, or cut into cubes and placed on skewers on the grill. Monkfish is boiled and stewed. The fish is especially popular in France, where the meat of its tail is prepared in many ways, for example with blackcurrant jam or sweet potato, and the head of the devil is used for rich, fatty, multi-spiced soup.

Monkfish meat is highly prized in Japan. Not only meat is eaten, but also liver, fins, skin and stomach.

The Chinese prefer to cook monkfish in a wok. The fillets are fried in oil with rice vinegar and soy sauce, sprinkled with ginger and chili. Then the wok is removed from the heat, the fish is covered with coriander and green onions, mixed, and served with rice. Everyone who has tried this dish finds it slightly smoky. It's all a play on spices and the characteristics of the wok. The fish turns out tender and very juicy thanks to quick frying.

In America, monkfish is cooked mainly on the grill. The fish is cut into pieces along with the skin and vertebral bone. Marinate with salt, olive oil and rosemary. The oil envelops the pieces of fish and prevents them from drying out. Monkfish is served with grilled vegetables, seasoned with lemon juice and olive oil.

In America, they prepare carrot puree with monkfish fillet meatballs. The carrots are boiled until soft, then simmered in heavy cream, chopped with the addition of coriander and salt. The monkfish fillet is crushed, mixed with salt and spices, formed into meatballs the size of a walnut, and steamed. The puree is served in deep plates, with a dozen meatballs placed in each and sprinkled with fresh herbs.

In Korea, the national dish He is made from monkfish and a sweet-spicy soup is cooked, to which they add a lot of vegetables and fried monkfish (fillet) in batter. Monkfish meat, seasoned with hot spices, is placed in rice dough (pancakes) and fried in a large amount of oil. Serve fish with soy sauce.

In gourmet restaurants in a number of countries you can find dishes where monkfish is presented in the following form. The fish is fried and served, doused with sweet and sour sauce, poached fish is served with lemon and lemon zest, as well as poached and served with parsley or spinach sauce with cheese. The fish is fried with chili pepper, smoked paprika and ginger, simmered in white wine, cream sauce, milk, baked with tomatoes, fried, strung on rosemary sprigs.

Monkfish is baked in the form of a roll. The fillet is laid out in a layer on film, the filling is placed on top, for example broccoli, and rolled up. The ends of the film are tied, the roll in this form is lowered into water and the fish is boiled for 10 minutes at a temperature not exceeding 86`C. With this method, the fillet remains soft and juicy, but holds its shape perfectly. The fish is served with creamy sauce and potato medallions fried in oil.

Monkfish are not often available for free sale, because... already mentioned above, the fish is under state protection and its catch is limited.

Unfrozen monkfish can be found in large hypermarkets at a very high price during a certain season or on the market from private sellers (this is in Europe and America). The rest of the time, if fish is sold, it is frozen, but its price is just as high - 20 euros per 1 kg.