The Angle on the Anglerfish

Presented by

Justin Schumacher

How would you like to go swimming at night in water so deep that you couldn’t see anything at all? Everything around you was—black! That would be scary, wouldn’t it? But what if you could go swimming in deep, dark waters—or even during the middle of the night!—because your body possessed its very own built-in flashlight? How cool would that be? You could see in the dark, and you would not have to be afraid.

Well, believe it or not, there is a fish in the oceans that possesses its very own built-in flashlight. It is known as an anglerfish. The name comes from the fact that the fish uses what appears to be a “fishing pole” with a “lure” on the end of it to catch its food. Actually, the pole is a special spine that grows outward from the fish’s head. And the lure is what appears to be a “light” dangling from the end of its fishing pole. When other fish see the light, they are curious about it and come to investigate the cause of this unusual phenomenon. Because they are concentrating on the light hanging from the end of the fishing pole sticking out of the anglerfish’s head, they don’t see the anglerfish—which opens its mouth and eats them!

Wait a minute! What in the world is going on here? Allow me to explain. The deeper into the ocean you go, the less light from the Sun you are able to see. Scientists have learned that sunlight penetrates the ocean to a depth of around 375 feet. Below that, the water becomes pitch-black. However, some fish have the ability to make their own light. How?

These “glow-in-the-dark” fish have special pouches near their eyes, tails, or fins. Inside those pouches are colonies of bacteria, which produce chemicals that give off a faint glow. The darker the surroundings are, the brighter the glow becomes. Some of these glow-in-the-dark fish have special “shutters” over their pouches. When the fish do not want to be seen, they simply close these shutters. At other times, the fish open the shutters to produce their unique glow.

Scientists have learned that some of these fish use their “built-in flashlights” to attract other fish as food. And, scientists also think that the glow-in-the-dark fish use their lights to attract mates so they can reproduce. There may even be other reasons for this special “underwater biological flashlight” that we have not yet discovered.

So let me see if I understand this correctly? There are certain bacteria that produce chemicals that can give off light? These bacteria sometimes live inside fish deep within the dark waters of the oceans? And one organism (the bacteria) helps another organism (the fish) to attract other fish for food to eat or as mates with which to breed? All of this seems a bit strange, does it not?

Today, scientists who are evolutionists want us to believe that an incredible number of beneficial genetic mutations resulted in a complex creature like the anglerfish being able to “evolve” the ability to grow a special spine out of its head, tolerate chemical-producing bacteria living inside it, and produce a “fishing lure” using the light generated by the bacteria in order to catch its food and attract a mate. However, knowing what we know today about genetics, such an explanation does not make any sense at all. Mutations rarely help organisms; instead, they usually harm them!

Those of us who acknowledge the existence of God, and who recognize the Bible as His inspired Word, know that such intricate designs in nature always demand a designer. You do not get a poem without a poet. You do not get a painting without a painter. You do not get a musical score without a composer. And you do not get design without a designer!

When we see the amazing design of an animal like the anglerfish—with its unusual “out-of-body” spine and the fascinating “fishing lure” that hangs from the end of that spine—we know that it had to have a designer. The theory of evolution has absolutely no place for God, the Great Designer. And that is why evolution is wrong. When we see evidence of design like that in the amazing anglerfish, we know that such design demands a designer. God is that Designer. The apostle Paul said that some of the people of his generation had “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Wouldn’t it be better instead to listen to the inspired wisdom of the psalmist when he wrote, “Praise the name of Jehovah, for He commanded, and they were created” (Psalm 148:5)? From the tiny microorganisms that produce their own light, to the anglerfish’s special fishing lure, the evidence of God is all around us. As the psalmist said, “Praise the name of the Lord, for His glory is above the earth and the heavens” (Psalm 148:13). Yes, it certainly is. Who would have guessed that an anglerfish could teach us such important lessons about our great God?

[NOTE: To view the PDF of the full-color handout that accompanies this lesson, click here.]