Happened to cross what you were saying about a Monk Fish.
When I was in Tampa back when I was in 5th grade I came across what certainly looked like an anglerfish on Tampa Bay.
And, yes, I also looked up the depth of Tampa Bay, and also came across Monkfish pictures (which they eat in Tampa). And, yes, the one I saw had a true trap-door mouth. It had a stalk in the middle of its forehead that was probably about two inches long. I remember thinking it was all mouth and the body was triangular in shape, lying on its side.
The mouth was open like a trap door, as I recall. And, all around the mouth were pin-like teeth.
From my memory of it, it didn't look at all like the longer pictures of a Monkfish that I've seen.
Strange how memory can mislead you. Yes, I was young. Yes, I've probably seen many pictures of Anglerfish since then to support my misconception. It probably wasn't a deep-sea anglerfish, but I have a very vivid image in my head of it and I would say it wasn't a Monkfish if it, indeed, did look like I remember it to look like.
The eyes were glazed over and shiny like they were almost glowing metallic. They didn't look like the fish could possibly see through those.
Anyways, it goes right along with your 'How could an anglerfish possibly wash up on a Tampa beach?'
I was what I would term a naturalist at that time. I had studied many books on fish, and strange fish, because they intrigued me. I had never heard of a Monkfish at that time, though.
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