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Oyster toadfish

Opsanus tau

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size Maximum size to 381 mm standard length. The IGFA all-tackle gamefish record is 2.23 kg for a fish caught in North Carolina in 1994.
Diagnostic characters Small to medium-sized fishes (to 57 cm) easily recognized by their characteristic shape. Head broad and flattened, often with barbels and/or fleshy flaps; eyes on top of head, upward- directed; mouth wide. Gill openings restricted to sides, just in front of pectoral-fin base.Two dorsal fins, the first consisting of 2 or 3 strong, sharp spines; the second consisting of a large number of soft rays; pelvic fins jugular, inserted well in advance of pectoral fins, with 1 spine and 2 or 3 soft rays. One to several lateral lines on head and body. Body naked or covered with small, cycloid (smooth) scales. Colour: mostly drab brown with spots or saddles of black. Dorsal-fin spines 3; 1 or 2 subopercular spines present; body without scales; axillary pore behind pectoral fins present ; A single subopercular spine. Discrete glands present between the upper rays on inner surface of pectoral fins. Second dorsal-fin rays 25 to 27, usually 26; pectoral-fin rays usually 20 or 21, occasionally 19; precaudal vertebrae 11; head wide, 246 to 366 thousandths of standard length. Background body pigmentation dark, crossbands on body; snout to anal fin distance shorter, 551 to 609 thousandths of standard length Pectoral fin with definite crossbars, the light areas continuous across the fin; sides and belly with brownish to blackish reticulations, or finely mottled, especially on sides of belly.
Habitat, biology, and fisheries Bottom-dweller found primarily within and around oyster reefs. Also lives among wrecks, debris, rocks, vegetation and other dark, secluded spots in the shallows during warmer months, moving to the Chesapeake Bay’s deep channels in winter. Spawning occurs in April through October in the Bay’s shallows. Males make a nest in a dark, secluded location, then call for a female mate. The female lays sticky eggs on the top of the nest, then leaves. Oyster toadfish eggs measure about one-fifth of an inch in diameter – the largest eggs of any fish in the Bay. The male protects the eggs and keeps the nest clean by using his fins to fan out debris. After about one month, the eggs hatch. The tadpole-like young remain attached to the nest by a yolk. Once the yolk is fully absorbed, the male guards the young toadlets for a few more weeks, although they are free to swim in and out of the nest. Feeds mostly on small crabs and other crustaceans; will also eat mollusks and small fish.
Distribution Gulf of Maine south to Florida. Abundant throughout the Chesapeake Bay year-round; most common in the middle and lower Bay.
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.