Anglerfish Assemblage Art

This is Andy's most recent anglerfish assemblage art. It's made of layered wood and a functional light bulb.

According to National Geographic, "the angry-looking deep sea anglerfish has a right to be cranky. It is quite possibly the ugliest animal on the planet, and it lives in what is easily Earth's most inhospitable habitat: the lonely, lightless bottom of the sea."

They might be ugly in real life, but since our kids grew up watching Finding Nemo, the anglerfish has been a family favorite. We like to think Andy's version is friendly and happy, even with the scary-ish teeth.

The carnivorous anglerfish vary in size, ranging from less than a foot to over three feet in length. Andy's anglerfish also vary in size. This particular piece is 55 inches wide and 45 inches tall.

Most adult female ceratioid anglerfish have a luminescent organ called the esca at the tip of a modified dorsal ray. The organ has been hypothesized to serve the obvious purpose of luring prey in dark, deep-sea environments, but also serves to call males' attention to the females to facilitate mating. (see Wikipedia for more info)

For the esca on the anglerfish assemblage art, Andy uses a functional light bulb. Talk about a fancy sconce!