Caulophryne is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Caulophrynidae, the fanfins or hairy anglerfishes.

[1] The holotype of C. jordani was collected from the Gulf Stream off Long Island, New York at 39°27'N, 71°15'W, Albatross station 2747 from a depth between 0 and 1,276 fathoms (0 and 7,656 ft; 0 and 2,334 m).

The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the Caulophrynidae within the suborder Ceratioidei of the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.

Its use may date as far back as Aristotle and Cicero, who referred to anglerfishes as "fishing-frogs" and "sea-frogs", respectively, possibly because of their resemblance to frogs and toads.

The sensory cells of the lateral line system are at the tips of the filamentous rays of the dorsal and anal fins.

[7] The largest species in the genus is C. polynema with a maximum published total length of 21 cm (8.3 in).

[5] Caulophryne fanfins are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans where they live in the bathypelagic zone.