Abantennarius

Abantennarius frogfishes have round, nearly globular bodies that are to some degree compressed. They do not have spines on the illicium and the esca is very small or absent. The second dorsal spine is not connected to the head by a membrane while the third dorsal spine may be flexible or immobile. The mouth is upward pointing and is very large. The pectoral fins have developed to resemble limbs and have an "elbow", the fin is widely linked to the body. The gill opening is small and round, under and to the rear of the base of the pectoral fin. There is no caudal peduncle and the rear edges of the dorsal fin and anal fin are connected to the caudal fin by membranes. The rays in the caudal fin may be branched. The body is covered in thick skin which is covered in dense, closely set spinules. They typically have a dark blotch covering part of the upper body and the base of the dorsal fin.^[8] The smallest species in the genus is A. duescus, with a maximum published standard length of 3 cm (1.2 in), while the largest is A. dorehensis with a maximum published total length is 14 cm (5.5 in).^[4]

Abantennarius frogfishes are found in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean from the eastern coasts of Africa east to the western coasts of the Americas, with one species A. bermudensis in the western Atlantic Ocean.^[4]