Caulophryne pelagica is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Caulophrynidae, the fanfins.

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 specific name pelagica derives from pelagios, meaning "of the open sea", a reference to the bathypelagic environment the holotype was collected from.

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

In the Eastern Atlantic it is known only from the waters off Cape Verde, Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania and Western Sahara.

In the Indo-Pacific it has a wide distribution from Somalia and the Madives east to Hawaiiand in the eastern Pacific where it has been collected off Alaska, Baja California, the Gulf of Panama and Ecuador to as far south as 4°S, while in the Southern Ocean it is known from New Zealand and Australia.