🐠 Striated Frogfish (Antennarius striatus)
The Hairy Frogfish • Highly Variable Camouflage • A Worm-Like Fishing Lure and an Explosive Strike
 
📋 The Striated Frogfish, also known as the Hairy Frogfish, has a remarkable appearance: a round, expandable body covered in fine, hair-like dermal filaments that break up its outline and aid camouflage, with colouring that ranges from yellow, orange, and brown to grey, green, and near-black, often marked with zebra-like stripes. It can change colour over several weeks to match new surroundings.
It's native to a wide range spanning the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic, and it uses a distinctive worm-like lure at the tip of its modified first dorsal spine, a key identification feature that distinguishes it from similar-looking frogfish with different lure shapes, wiggling it to draw curious prey within striking range before an explosive strike.
It's a true ambush predator with an enormous mouth, capable of swallowing prey almost twice its own body size, so it's best kept alone or only with tankmates too large to be swallowed, and never with ornamental shrimp or crabs. Every Striated Frogfish we ship is feeding well, and it does best on live foods with patient training onto frozen foods, every 3-4 days and not daily. Our team can give you portion guidance for your fish's size.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Hairy, Highly Variable Camouflage: Colour can shift over weeks to match surroundings
🪱 A Worm-Like Lure: A key identification feature
🧠 A True Ambush Predator: Can swallow prey almost twice its own body size
🍽️ An Infrequent Feeder: Fed every 3-4 days
🌿 Safe With Corals: But ornamental shrimp and crabs are at risk