Toadfish is the common name for a variety of species from several different families of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

, usually because of their toad-like appearance. "Dogfish" is a name for certain species along the gulf coast.

Dolphin-Toadfish relationship

Toadfish make up a notable portion of the dolphin's diet, approximately 13%. Scientific experiments have shown that the mating call of the toadfish alerts dolphin predators to the fish's location. Similarly, the sounds caused by the dolphin when hunting its prey alert toadfish to the location of the predators and cause the fish to silence their mating call. Male toadfish will reduce their mating calls by up to 50% when they hear the low sound of a dolphin's "pop".

Batrachoididae

The entire family ''

Batrachoididae Batrachoididae is the only family in the ray-finned fish order Batrachoidiformes . Members of this family are usually called toadfish, or "frogfish": both the English common name and scientific name refer to their toad-like appearance (''batrak ...

'' are called toadfishes. They are

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

ambush predators, known for their ability to produce sound with their

swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled Organ (anatomy), organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish (but not cartilaginous fish) to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their curren ...

Tetraodontidae

The name "toadfish" is applied to some species of the family

Tetraodontidae Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...

, including: * The banded toadfish, ''

Torquigener ''Torquigener'' is a genus of pufferfishes native to the Indian and Pacific oceans. Their name refers to their ability to build circular structures on sandy sea bottom (''torquis'' + ''gener''). Species Twenty species are recognized in this genu ...

pleurogramma'' (Australia) * The

blackspotted toadfish The blackspotted puffer (''Arothron nigropunctatus''), also known as the dog-faced puffer, is a tropical marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae. Description ''Arothron nigropunctatus'' is a small sized fish which grows up to length. ...

, ''Arothron nigropunctatus'' (tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans) * The

common toadfish The common toadfish (''Tetractenos hamiltoni''), also known as the common toado, toadfish or toado, (formerly classified as ''Tetrodon hamiltoni''G.S. Hardy, "Revision of Australian species of ''Torquigener'' Whitley (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodon ...

(or toadfish), ''Tetractenos hamiltoni'' (Australia and New Zealand)Australian Faunal Directory: Tetractenos hamiltoni.
/ref> * The

prickly toadfish The prickly toadfish (''Contusus richei'') is a pufferfish of the family ''Tetraodontidae'', found in the eastern Indian Ocean and the southwest Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisi ...

, ''Contusus richei'' (Australia and New Zealand) * The

red striped toadfish ''Dichotomyctere erythrotaenia'', or the red-striped toadfish, is a species of pufferfish native to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea where it is found most often in brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring ...

, ''Tetraodon erythrotaenia'' (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) * The silver-cheeked toadfish, ''Lagocephalus sceleratus'' (tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans, invasive in the Mediterranean Sea) * The

smooth toadfish The smooth toadfish (''Tetractenos glaber'') is a species of fish in the pufferfish family Tetraodontidae. It is native to shallow coastal and estuarine waters of southeastern Australia, where it is widespread and abundant. French naturalist Ch ...

, ''Tetractenos glaber'' (Australia)Australian Faunal Directory: Tetractenos glaber.
/ref> Neophrynichthys latus (Dark toadfish)

Psychrolutidae

The name "toadfish" is also applied to some species of the family

Psychrolutidae The fish family Psychrolutidae (commonly known as blobfishes, toadfishes, flathead sculpins, tadpole sculpins,) contains over 35 recognized species in 8 genera. This family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with l ...

: * The

dark toadfish The dark toadfish, ''Neophrynichthys latus'', is a fathead of the family Psychrolutidae, found on the continental shelf around New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consist ...

, ''Neophrynichthys latus'' (New Zealand) * The

frilled toadfish The frilled toadfish (''Ambophthalmos magnicirrus'', previously classified as ''Neophrynichthys magnicirrus''Keith L. Jackson and Joseph S. Nelson, ''Ambophthalmos'', a new genus for "''Neophrynichthys''" ''angustus'' and "''Neophrynichthys''" ''m ...

, ''Ambophthalmos magnicirrus'' (Macquarie Island) * The

pale toadfish The pale toadfish (''Ambophthalmos angustus'', previously classified as ''Neophrynichthys angustus''Keith L. Jackson and Joseph S. Nelson, ''Ambophthalmos'', a new genus for "''Neophrynichthys''" ''angustus'' and "''Neophrynichthys''" ''magnicirru ...

, ''Ambophthalmos angustus'' (New Zealand)

References

{{reflist

External links

Fishbase list of species commonly called "toadfish"
Fish common names