Psychedelic frog fish. An amazing creation of nature: the toad fish. Where does the toad fish live?

Family: Batrachoididae = Toad-like

Class: Actinopterygii Klein, 1885 = Ray-finned fish
Order: Batrachoidiformes = Toad-like (Batrachoidiformes)
Family: Batrachoididae = Toad-like
Genus: Opsanus = Toadfish
Species: Opsanus tau (Linnaeus, 1766) = Toadfish

The toadfish Opsanus tau is found throughout the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It lives mainly on a sandy or muddy bottom, sometimes burying itself in it up to its eyes. Most of the body is made up of a huge head flattened on top, with an equally large mouth. The toad fish reaches 20-35 centimeters in length. The toadfish has poisonous spines, which pose a certain danger to people swimming in the water.

The toadfish is capable of making various sounds, which are in the nature of a grinding sound, a hoarse grunt, or may even resemble a horn. These sounds are mainly issued as warning signals to possible aliens that a given area of ​​​​the seabed is already occupied by them. At the same time, the sound signals emitted by these fish are very strong, and directly near the toad fish, their beeps sometimes have a force of over 100 decibels, thus reaching an intensity that is painful for the ear.

The toadfish Opsanus tau is just one of many sea ​​fish from the family Batrachoididae known as Toad-like. These fish are sometimes kept in aquariums and are often sold under several different names, including Mudtoad, angry toad, etc. As you can imagine, with a nickname like evil This toad fish looks quite strange with its yellowish-brown coloration and sharp teeth. Toadfish also have sharp, poisonous dorsal spines, so be careful when unhooking them! The toadfish is not very long, it only grows to about 39cm.

Both the male and female of this species make croaking sounds when threatened or when caught. It is the males of this species that have the ability to produce a sound reminiscent of a siren, which they use during the mating season from April to October to attract females. The sound producer is a special sound muscle that is attached to its swim bladder and is the fastest contracting muscle known in a vertebrate. The males build the nest and serenade their female counterparts with beautiful croaking sounds. After courtship, the male fertilizes the eggs, which hatch into larvae after about a month. All this time, the male will remain at the laying site and guard the eggs and larvae after they hatch.

When young eggs hatch, they retain the yolk for some time. When the yolk is completely absorbed, the young toadfish begin to learn to swim. Even when the young began to swim, adult males still protect their children.

In 1998, NASA sent the toadfish into space to study the effects of weightlessness on the development of otolith organs. The study showed that there is little difference between terrestrial development and their development in outer space in conditions of weightlessness.

The toadfish is an omnivore that eats a wide variety of foods. They usually hunt small fish, crabs, shellfish, worms, crustaceans and squid. The toadfish is a predator that hunts mainly from ambush, motionlessly lying in wait for its prey. She can lie still for a long time while potential food approaches her, and then attacks her with amazing speed!

Toadfish (lat. Opsanus tau, English. Oyster Toadfish)- a species of fish of the toad-like family, or batrachidae (Batrachoididae).

It is found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans on muddy or sandy bottoms, sometimes burrowing into it up to the eyes. Hunts for small fish, crabs, mollusks, worms, motionlessly lying in wait for prey that dares to approach it. The body consists mainly of a head, flattened, with a large mouth and reaches 20-35 centimeters in length. They have poisonous spines and pose a danger to swimmers. However, its poison is not fatal - a person who has received an injection from one of the gill spines (this is where the poison is released) will only feel pain and suffer a slight illness. It is best if you are unlucky enough to encounter a toad fish, take a hot bath or apply a hot compress to the bite site - under the influence high temperature The fish's poison disintegrates.

Aquariums and equipment

The ExoticZoo online aquarium store offers a large selection of aquariums of all shapes and sizes. From us you can order an aquarium with delivery throughout Ukraine at the lowest price. We will select a suitable aquarium cabinet, lid and tray.

For beginner aquarists, we offer aquarium kits - aquariums equipped with everything necessary equipment- aquarium filter, compressor, thermostat (heater), pump (pump), lighting.

A large selection of aquarium decorations - treasure chests, submarines, sunken ships, plastic and natural ocean corals, shells, aquarium soil will help make the underwater landscape unusual and original.

To start an aquarium and maintain ecological balance, you can buy air conditioners, water tests, medicines for aquarium fish, products to combat algae in an aquarium, and fertilizers for plants.

Our store always has a large selection of aquarium fish and plants in stock.

Capable of making sounds that have the nature of a grinding, hoarse grunt or beep. Sounds are made to warn possible aliens that a given section of the bottom is occupied. Directly near the fish, these beeps sometimes have a force of over 100 decibels, reaching an intensity that is painful to the ear.

The fish has no scales, but its entire body is covered with growths and studded with many poisonous spines. The body color is yellowish-brown, with a motley pattern of black stripes and spots. Since the fish lives on a dirty muddy or sandy bottom, such camouflage camouflages the toad fish well, preventing small fish, crustaceans and mollusks from detecting it. The fish attacks the prey that swims up with a lightning-fast jump from its hiding place, catching it by surprise.

Most of her body is the head, which has enormous proportions compared to the body. Its mouth opens very wide, which allows it to swallow quite big catch. The fish is very unpretentious, omnivorous. In the absence of a sufficient amount of the basic diet, he does not disdain and plant foods.

The spawning period lasts from April to October, and during this time “toad singing” can be heard in its habitat. The volume of such “croaking” can reach 100 decibels, which is comparable to the noise of a subway car. Toad fish – caring parents. The female lays about 500 large orange eggs in some secluded place. The laying couple protects the nest until the eggs hatch. Over time, when the fry go to free swimming, adult fish continue to guard their offspring until the juveniles gain enough experience to continue independent life.

If on the ocean coast you suddenly hear whistles reminiscent of steamships, followed by grumbling and grinding, do not be alarmed. Most likely, it is not the steamer that is in distress, but the toad fish informing its rivals that it has already occupied this area of ​​territory. The beeps can be heard very often - up to three times per minute.

It lives at depths from 5 to 200 m. Commercial value does not have.

Photo of toad fish

Opsanus beta or toadfish has an oblong body with a huge skull and sternum.

The eyes are extremely small, with a bluish or pink tint.

The tail is underdeveloped and very small in size. The oral surface of the natural inhabitant is surrounded by skin growths.

The body has a dirty brownish color, with spots of impressive size.

Near the abdominal growths and near the gills there are impressive-sized spines that are adjacent to poisonous glands. For this reason, handling pets requires extreme caution to prevent accidental injury to the upper limbs - it is recommended to use gloves for these purposes.

If you still miss the attack and get a wound, you will need to quickly resort to a hot compress - increased temperature regime will soon remove the consequences of an attack from a poisonous creature.

It is possible to keep toad fish in a species-specific container or a spacious reservoir, together with moray eels, silver swallows and other inhabitants of mangroves. What is definitely worth attaching importance to is that all neighbors must be larger in size than the toad-like inhabitants, otherwise tropical pets will serve light snack for predatory fish.

It is necessary to inform that these creatures are absolutely not afraid of predators; moreover, with their guttural roar they can panic any fish that encroaches on their calm. These sounds are produced by contraction of the spinal muscles that are connected to the swim bladder.

It is necessary to isolate the frequency characteristics, internal organ which can be reduced in a huge range, reaching three to five thousand times per minute interval, which in itself is surprising.

At home, the toad fish will be satisfied with a pond measuring two hundred liters or more. On the bottom you will need to place a lot of shelters where the fish can hide. In general, no special difficulties should arise when keeping these fish - as long as the hydrochemical composition of the water is maintained at a level familiar to the pet. The fish can exist in both fresh and salted water, but for this it will need to be subjected to difficult adaptation.
For most of their lives, fish hide at the bottom, hiding in rocky shelters.

Water parameters: temperature 22-26C, acidic component pH 8.1-8.4. Water filtration is required. To the oxygen content in aquatic environment fish are undemanding, since evolution has equipped fish with three-layer gills, with the help of which they are able to exist even in unfavorable conditions with an extremely low oxygen regime.

Feeding the toadfish

Using its own camouflage coloring, the three-spined toadfish is capable of lying motionless in ambush for a long time, waiting for a careless fish. When the selected target is in close proximity, its fate is sealed, an instant blow will follow and it will end up in the stomach of the predator.

In the wild, the diet is very varied and consists of fish, crabs, shrimp, octopus, bivalves, snails, sea ​​urchins and polychaete worms.

At home, they will eat live food, earthworms, sliced ​​fish fillets, shrimp meat and other seafood - in general, there are usually no difficulties with feeding the predator.

The frequency of feedings is most often limited to one or two feedings per week, which comfortably coincides with the feeding regime in the wild.

Spawning features of toadfish

The nest that has spawned protects the nesting space from the encroachments of neighbors until the larva appears.

Over time, when the kids set off on their own, parents continue to protect their own children until the youth gain the experience to live independently.
It has no commercial significance, but is often found in aquarium reservoirs.

In nature, fish are capable of producing offspring at the age of two.

Immediately after spawning, the male guards the clutch. The female reproductive products are incubated for about two weeks, subsequently a larva appears that is extremely similar in appearance to the tiny babies of the common frog.

In our minds, toads are not very pleasant creatures. Did you know that among fish there are toads? Yes, yes, that’s exactly what they are called: toad fish.

What kind of creature is this? Where does it live and what does it eat? And is it as terrible as its amphibian “namesake”? Toadfish belong to the class of ray-finned fish. The order in which these creatures fall is called toad-like, family - toad-shaped, genus - toad-fish. Why is the representative fish kingdom got the name of a toad? Is it all about appearance?

It turns out - no. Toadfish can make sounds. They, of course, do not resemble croaking, but most of all resemble a hoarse grunt.

What does this creature look like?

This bottom-dwelling fish doesn't grow much large sizes. The maximum length of her body is about 35 centimeters.

The body shape of this fish is teardrop-shaped. The toadfish's body is naked and has no scales. By the way, this is another feature that gives the fish a resemblance to an amphibian. The body color is camouflage. The toadfish is very good at blending in environment. When it lies at the bottom, buried in the ground, it is generally impossible to distinguish it from a stone overgrown with mud and algae.

The head is flattened. The mouth is simply huge, with large plump lips. But what really stands out about this fish is its eyes, they are so big, just like a real toad’s! This fish also boasts the presence of many spines, through the tubules of which poisonous liquid flows. Still, it’s better not to meet with this fish, because it can not only scare appearance, but also inject a portion of poison into your body.

Where does the toad fish live?

These underwater inhabitants are quite widespread on Globe. They can be found in the waters of all oceans except the Arctic. IN ocean waters this fish chooses warm zones.

The lifestyle of the toad fish and its diet

Almost its entire existence, the toad fish is in a motionless state. She especially loves to burrow into the ground. At the same time, she hides her entire body at the bottom, leaving only her eyes on the surface. In this way, the fish not only camouflages itself and protects itself from enemies, but also lies in wait for its prey.

And the toad fish feeds on both plant and animal foods. In addition to algae, small crustaceans, fish, and worms may appear on her “dining table”.

When the prey swims closer, the toad fish, without hesitation, rushes at it and literally swallows it with lightning speed! And this, despite the external sluggishness and slowness.

Reproduction

The spawning season for these fish begins in June – July. One female toadfish lays up to 500 eggs, which the male then guards for about three weeks.

Toadfish fry closely resemble tadpoles. This is another of the many similarities between fish and amphibians. Toad fish become sexually mature when they reach two years of age.

“Injection” with a poisonous thorn, how is it dangerous?

Toadfish poison for humans mortal danger, such as poison

It is found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans on muddy or sandy bottoms, sometimes burrowing into it up to the eyes.

Hunts for small fish, crabs, mollusks, worms, motionlessly lying in wait for prey that dares to approach it.

The body consists mainly of a head, flattened, with a large mouth and reaches 20-35 centimeters in length.

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