Morphometric and meristic study of white and black anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius and L. budegassa) from the south-west of Ireland to the southwestern Mediterranean

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Two species of anglerfish are found in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, white anglerfishes (Lophius piscatorius) and black anglerfish (L. budegassa). Both species are highly valuable in trawl and gill net fisheries. In the present study, the morphometric and meristic variation of both anglerfish species is analysed along the Atlantic coast between the west of Ireland and the south of Portugal and also the south-western Mediterranean. In this Atlantic area ICES considers for assessment purposes two anglerfish stocks, northern and southern, with the geographical barrier between them in the Cap Breton Canyon. Results showed a reasonable classification of specimens in certain areas, namely between western Ireland, western France and northern Spain for L. piscatorius and between western France and southern Portugal for L. budegassa. The population structure of the two European anglerfishes seems to be more complex than considered by the actual ICES stock limits.