See text Members of the genus Lophius, also sometimes called monkfish, fishing-frogs, frog-fish, and sea-devils, are various species of lophiid anglerfishes found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Lophius was first proposed as a genus by Carl Linnaeus when he described Lophius piscatorius in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae given as "in Oceano Europæo", meaning the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and Black Seas with localities mentioned including Bordeaux, Marseille and Montpellier in France; Genoa, Rome, Naples and Venice in Italy; Lesbos in Greece; and Syria.

[2][3] The genus Lophius is one of 4 extant genera in the family Lophiidae which the 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies in the monotypic suborder Lophioidei within the order Lophiiformes.

[6] The seven recognized extant species in this genus are:[7] Lophius monkfishes are characterised by having highly compressed heads and bodies.

[9] The spawn of this genus consists of a thin sheet of transparent gelatinous material 60–100 cm (25–40 in) wide and 8–10 m (26–33 ft) in length.

[clarification needed] The species caught on the North American side of the Atlantic is usually Lophius americanus.

A third species (Lophius budegassa), inhabits the Mediterranean, and a fourth (L. setigerus) the coasts of Korea, China and Japan.

Black anglerfish tend to have a more southern distribution (Mediterranean and eastern North Atlantic from the British Isles to Senegal).

[11] A map of the distribution of anglerfish in the waters surrounding Europe and North Africa can be found in the external links section.