The oyster toadfish, ''Opsanus tau'', also known as the oyster toad, ugly toad, oyster cracker, oyster catcher, and bar dog, is a Northeast Atlantic species 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 ...

of the 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 (''batrakh ...

. The maximum length of this toadfish is , but they infrequently surpass . The world record size for this species is 19.2 inches which is 48.76 cm. They are generally yellowish with a pattern of brown oblique bars. The species can live in poor conditions and needs little food to live. It is an omnivore. Common prey include crustaceans, mollusks, amphipods, squid, and other smaller fish. Oyster toadfish rely upon

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

to catch their food; they lie motionless waiting for prey to pass close by, then attack by surprise. They can be found near the shore from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

The fish has a distinctive "foghorn" sound used by males to attract females in the mating season, which is April–October. The sound-producing (sonic) muscles attached to its swimbladders are the fastest known vertebrate muscles. Following the foghorn sound, the female comes into the nest, lays

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, and then leaves (the toadfish lays the largest eggs of any

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

fish). The male fertilizes the eggs; they hatch after about one month. When the eggs hatch, the young toadfish stay attached to the

yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example ...

for some time. When the yolk has been absorbed for energy, the young toadfish learn to swim. Even when the young have started to swim, the adult still protects its young. Toadfish have a venomous spine on their first dorsal fin. Pain from this venom has been compared to a bee or wasp sting. In 1998,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

sent the oyster toadfish into space to investigate the effects of microgravity on the development of

otolith An otolith ( grc-gre, ὠτο-, ' ear + , ', a stone), also called statoconium or otoconium or statolith, is a calcium carbonate structure in the saccule or utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular system of vertebrates. The sa ...

ic organs. The study found little difference between terrestrial development and those in space.

References

External links

Hear the foghorn-like sound of the oyster toadfish, fro

the NASA experiment

more NASA {{Taxonbar, from=Q1524360 Opsanus Fauna of the Eastern United States Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish described in 1766 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus