Anglerfish says no...

is it true these fish are able to make sounds? i've never seen a live one but i heard they growl like the girl in Omen. anyone know if this is true? maybe weren't called the sea devil for nothing... the way the reproduce is also extremely interesting according to the info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angler_fish
cheers! :)

Never heard a sound out of them myself but gurnard can make a grunting or croaking noise, sometimes referred to as 'drumming'. Quite a few fish can do this.

seen skate do that on a fishing program - a kinda squeaking

thanks for the replies lads.

after a quick google (next time i do this first ;) ) it seems many species of fishes use sound to attract a mate or warn off predators (or tell anglers to piss off?). though i didn't find anything specific to anglerfish yet.

round where i live i've seen very large specimens in restaurant windows, like maybe 3 or 4 feet long. can't imagine hauling something like this out of the water!! especially if it's growling.

:D

I actually caught an Anglerfish ~ 6Ib years ago 80's from waterfoot peir. It was a complete Fluke really as I had hooked what I presumed was a small flattie only to feel a large weight which at the time I thought was weed until I had got it in! Scared the absolute crap outta me some teeth on board luckily he was hooked in top lip. No grunting as far as I remember it went back in much to the disappointment of a few locals who though I was mad tossing back such a prized eating fish!

I've encoutered manys an anglerfish while working on the boats out of Killybegs, but never heard them making any noises...

My first fish was a grey gurnard of all things from dun laoghire west pier. Was pretty suprised to hear it croaking