These lights attract other fish. When the fish is about to bite onto the light the anglerfish opens its mouth and swallows it. With its large hinged jaw it can even swallow animals twice his size. The lights are used for other reasons, too. Some scientists believe that the fish can recognize each other by the different light patterns, and so are drawn to each other when it s time to mate.
Scientists also think the lights and the creatures enormous eyes allow it to see.
Another reason for the light is that the anglerfish migrates closer to the surface each night. As the fish gets to parts of the water where sunlight filters down it would be an easy target for predators because animals looking up would see the perfect outline of its body. The lights help camouflage the fish be resembling the flickers of light from the sun. As the anglerfish begins its daily migration it will pass many other strange looking fish. Black dragonfishes are long slender eel-like creatures.