3 Euro Deep-sea Anglerfish Coin
**As dark and scary as the deep blue sea itself, a black coin like the** ***Deep-sea Anglerfish*** **has never been seen before. When illuminated with ultraviolet light its secret is revealed as you come face to face with a scary sea monster. A highlight of** ***Luminous Marine Life*****, the fourth coin in the 3 euro series is more than worthy of a sea creature that could not be more extraordinary.** With a spherical body, large head and a mouth packed with sharp teeth, deep-sea anglerfish are bizarre-looking creatures found below a depth of 300 metres in all the world's oceans. With a body length of between 6 centimetres and 1.2 metres, it is amazing how much larger the female is than the male, which tends to reach only a few centimetres in length. To catch their prey, female deep-sea anglerfish are equipped with a ‘fishing rod’ (illicium) and attached ‘lure’ (esca), which is usually equipped with a luminescent organ. The internal structure of the esca is complex and includes a bewildering variety of vesicles filled with luminescent bacteria. In addition to the esca’s luminescent organ, all species of the genus Linophryne possess a light-producing barbel on the hyoid bone. However, the barbel’s light does not come from light-producing bacteria but from a photogenic granulate lying between the cells. The independent development of two different light-producing mechanisms in this genus is unique in the natural world. **Coin motif** All 12 of the magical sea creatures in the *Luminous Marine Life series* are shown in silhouette on the coin’s obverse. Air bubbles up between them and a tail fin disappears beneath the waves to the right. The coin’s reverse is framed by a wide band reminiscent of an old-fashioned porthole decorated with a shell and a starfish. Within the porthole the coin’s surface is black, but when illuminated with ultraviolet light a glowing red and green deep-sea anglerfish appears, with its open mouth full of long pointed teeth and a glowing ‘fishing rod’ on its forehead for catching small fish.