Anglerfish

The Anglerfish or Angler is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved.

Behavior
Despite being described in its Dossier as being generally skittish, the Angler will attack the player and any tamed creatures on sight. When damaged in a fight, they will attempt to flee but will turn around and attack again after a short chase.

Appearance
This fish has three bio luminescent lures on its head and an oversized mouth lined with long, needle-like teeth to capture prey, perfect for survival in the lowest depths of the Island's ocean.

KO Strategy
Since the Angler lives deep underwater, the only way to knock it out is with a Crossbow and Tranquilizer Arrows, a Harpoon Launcher with Tranq Spear Bolts or a creature that deals torpor such as the Tusoteuthis (or a Wooden Club, if you're feeling adventurous). Be careful to not deal too much damage at once, as it has relatively low health compared to its torpor, so it's easy to kill it accidentally. The Angler can also deal a decent amount of damage itself, so be sure to suit up in a full set of SCUBA gear. Once they take a bit of damage, they will attempt to swim away. Be careful if you chase them, as they will often turn around and attack again without warning.

A good strategy is to bring a tough underwater mount, such as a Plesiosaur, and set it to passive. That way, once it has been shot, the Angler will target your mount instead of you, giving time to take it down in relative safety.

Ideally, the best place to tame Anglerfish is The Emerald Forest on Valguero, since Abberant Anglerfish will frequently spawn in the shallow creeks here. Most of the time, the water will be too shallow for them to swim away from you, although keep in mind that they can still be attacked by nearby hostile creatures and can also die if they manage to beach themselves.

Another area for easy Anglerfish taming is Eldritch Isle on Crystal Isles, where the many floating bubbles of water contain Anglerflish who cannot flee from being tranqed. Be sure to clear out the Electrophorus, Cnidaria and Piranha s that also spawn in these same bubbles, as they will instantly aggro onto your Angler as soon as it tames. Simply take the finished tame home in a cryopod.

Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Angler.

General
One must first take into consideration the environment that the Angler lives in, the deep ocean. Other animals patrol these waters, making Angler combat or taming difficult. Ichthyosaurus, though friendly, tend to swarm the player and can easily become overwhelming if one attracts the attention of too many of them. Additionally, predators like Cnidaria, Megalodon, Mosasaurs, and Plesiosaurs can attack at any time: even the Anglers themselves are dangerous. Finally, asphyxiation and temperature hazards will finish off any survivors rather quickly that have not equipped themselves with a full set of SCUBA Gear.

Strategy
Often, the Angler will be the one attacking you. In that case, use your mount if it has enough health and attack damage, but also make sure your mount has a quick turning circle to compete with the angler's agility. Fighting the Angler without a mount is also possible; use ranged melee weapons that can keep Anglers at bay, like Pikes (Spears are not recommended due to break chance) and when it runs away, use a Crossbow or a Harpoon Launcher to finish it off.

Weaponry
Use a Crossbow or Harpoon Launcher for ranged, and a Pike or Sword for melee. A powerful mount can also deal with anglers.

Dangers
When chasing it, be aware that it can turn around and attack again. Also make sure to keep an eye out for other, dangerous animals.

Weakness
When compared to other marine predators, the Angler has a low threat level.

Utility
Note that the Angler does not require a saddle to ride, making it a decent mount for seafaring survivors that are short on resources.

Roles

 * Deep Sea Exploring Mount: Thanks to their light, the angler is perfect for exploring the depths of the sea. Raise and  to be able to fight the powerful creatures that spawn in the depths, or raise  and  if you plan to escape from them and avoid them, as the Angler is fairly suited to both fighting or fleeing.
 * AnglerGel Hunter: The light on the angler attracts other angler fish, making it a good way to collect . (Level up and ).
 * Silica Pearls Farmer: Anglers are the best and only creature that can harvest on the sea floor or water beds with their bite attack.
 * Light Source: The light given off by the Angler is exceptionally bright(especially when brought to the waters' surface) and can illuminate an area of over 40 foundations in diameter, making it a cheap alternative to electric lighting or torches if one lives near, in, or on a water source.
 * Combatant: Though the Angler is small and lacks a saddle, it is rather nimble and packs a punch for its size with decent health and stamina. Thanks to their abundance in the depths and their relatively easy taming compared to other sea mounts, one can acquire an army relatively quickly. If leveled appropriately and used with the right methods, an Angler can be a formidable force at mid-game tier, whether used as a solo fighter or for swarm tactics. Leveling depends on desired combatant role.
 * River Access: Although the Anglerfish is a deep sea fish it can travel up rivers since it is smaller than other sea creatures. Despite being able to move around in rivers the Anglerfish is limited on where it can go so a fish basket can help move them to an area they can't reach.

Notes/Trivia

 * Revealed 9/21/2015 by Jat.
 * Since Patch v257, Anglers now harvest with their bite attack. This was originally planned to be a  feature according to the dossier but got moved to the Angler as the Liopleurodon serves the purpose of a temporary treasure enhancer.
 * Color region 4 is listed as not used, when it in fact it colors the dots along their sides.
 * The specific epithet anglerpescum is a pseudo-Latinization of the English word "anglerfish", retaining the first half as it is and replacing the second half with a corrupted form of Latin piscis (meaning "fish").
 * Although Ark's anglerfish genus name, Melanocetus, is shared with modern-day Black Seadevil Anglerfishes, it instead seems to share traits from many different deep-sea anglerfish families, all of which belong to the suborder, Ceratioidei. Almost all modern day anglers practice a type of reproduction called sexual parasitism and all species show(often extreme) sexual dimorphism, with the males sometimes being 100's of times smaller than the female. During this practice, the males will attempt to find a female, either by sight or scent, and proceed to swim over and bite onto the underside of the female where their tissues will then fuse and their circulatory systems will connect, essentially turning the males into external gonads. This adaptation is likely a solution to their sparse, spread out population and their slowness created by the rarity of food and harsh conditions in the ocean depths.
 * The females produce light by housing a specific kind of bacteria culture inside the tips of their vertabral rods. The rod tip and culture is essentially what is collected in the game, in the form of . Males lack the ability to make this light.
 * It is also important to note that Ark's anglerfish is rather unlike their real-world counterparts, as they have 3 rods, can swim much faster, and are much larger. Ark's anglerfish also has absolutely no sexual dimorphism to speak of, essentially making the males identical to to the females.
 * In real life, most male anglerfish conjoin and sacrifice themselves to mate with a female, which is not the case in ARK where males can mate normally with females.
 * The Anglerfish does not produce.
 * Anglerfish can be found in the Snow Cave and many other caves that either have water in them or are filled with water.
 * The Fish Basket can be used to reset breed timer on Anglerfish, as well as and.
 * The Anglerfish seen in Ark has three luminescent fin rays, whereas a normal Anglerfish has only one luminescent fin ray.