Anglerfish Quotes

All versions written for nonscientists speak of fused males as the curious tale of the anglerfish-just as we so often hear about the monkey swinging through the trees, or the worm burrowing through soil. But if nature teaches us any lesson, it loudly proclaims life's diversity. There ain't no such abstraction as the clam, the fly, or the anglerfish. Ceratioid anglerfishes come in nearly 100 species, and each has its own peculiarity. (Stephen Jay Gould)
These arguments led Darwin to his denial of progress as a consequence of the "bare bones mechanics” of natural selection-for this process yields only local adaptation, often exquisite to be sure, but not universally advancing. The mammoth is every bit as good as an elephant-and vice versa. Do you prefer a marlin for its excellent spike; a flounder for its superb camouflage; an anglerfish for its peculiar "lure” evolved at the end of its own dorsal fin ray; a seahorse for its wondrous shape, so well adapted for bobbing around its habitat? Could any of these fishes be judged "better” or "more progressive” than any other? The question makes no sense. Natural selection can forge only local adaptation-wondrously intricate in some cases, but always local and not a step in a series of general progress or complexification. View quote
Stephen Jay Gould