''Opsanus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of toadfishes found in the western

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. It currently has six recognised species, with the latest one described in 2005.

Species

The recognized

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in this

are: * '' Opsanus beta'' ( Goode & T. H. Bean, 1880) (Gulf toadfish) * '' Opsanus brasiliensis'' Rotundo, Spinelli & Zavala-Camin, 2005 (considered by some sources to be a junior synonym of O. tau) * '' Opsanus dichrostomus'' Collette, 2001 (bicolor toadfish) * '' Opsanus pardus'' (Goode & T. H. Bean, 1880) (leopard toadfish) * '' Opsanus phobetron'' Walters & C. R. Robins, 1961 (scarecrow toadfish) * '' Opsanus tau'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1766) (oyster toadfish)

References

Batrachoididae Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque {{Batrachoidiformes-stub