''Torquigener squamicauda'', commonly known as the brush-tail toadfish or scalytail toadfish, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

in 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 ...

. It is found in the coastal waters off eastern Australia from

Yeppoon Yeppoon is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Located from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the seat of the ...

in Queensland to

Wattamolla Wattamolla, also known as Wattamolla Beach, is a cove, lagoon, and beach on the New South Wales coast south of Sydney, within the Royal National Park. History Wattamolla is the local Aboriginal name of the area, meaning "place near running wa ...

just south of Sydney in New South Wales.

James Douglas Ogilby James Douglas Ogilby (16 February 1853 – 11 August 1925) was an Australian ichthyologist and herpetologist. Ogilby was born in Belfast, Ireland, and was the son of zoologist William Ogilby and his wife Adelaide, née Douglas. He received h ...

described the brush-tail toadfish in 1911 from a specimen collected in Moreton Bay by J.T. Jamieson. Reaching 15 cm (6 in) in length, ''Torquigener squamicauda'' has an elongate body with a rounded back and flattened belly. It has a small mouth at its apex with thin lips that have numerous papillae and a prominent chin. It has pale greyish to olive-green upperparts flecked with green and brown. It is possibly poisonous.

References

External links

Fishes of Australia : ''Torquigener squamicauda''
{{DEFAULTSORT:toadfish, brush-tail squamicauda Marine fish of Eastern Australia brush-tail toadfish