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Grand prize in the Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s 2016 Marine Science Day artwork contest goes to Michelle-Marie Scott, a university administrator in Utah, for her line drawing of a very noisy oyster toadfish.
The always-popular contest—based on the changing theme of VIMS’ annual open house—has inspired artists young and old with other challenging subjects over the years, from sand to oysters to seahorses, but this year’s theme—Sounds of the Sea—may have been the most difficult.
When asked how she chose to depict a sound visually, Scott says she “searched a few weeks for how underwater bioacoustics are measured, what it looks like when a sound is applied to a visual representation, and considered where this representation could be inserted into the design's narrative.”
The targeted catch during the fishing trip was gray snapper at night and grouper species during the day. Red snapper, sailfish, Atlantic bigeye (pictured), toadfish, tunas, vermilion snapper, king mackerel, amberjacks and almaco jacks were also caught during the 39-hour, multi-day charter trip out of Madeira Beach.
Photo by Bob Harbison
Close-up of an oyster toadfish in Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary.
Photo credit: Greg McFall/NOAA
Destin Jetty. There was a lot of particulate matter in the water this day. Your typical person thinks these fish are really ugly, but I think they are pretty interesting with all their algae-like skin extensions. They are also some of the tamest fish you will encounter underwater.
Destin jetties. Toadfish are fairly easy to photograph because they often just sit there rather than fleeing, so I am beginning to have quite a collection of toadfish shots.
Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species, which are variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, toadfish, toadies, honey toads, sugar toads, and sea squab. They are morphologically similar to the closely related porcupinefish, which have large external spines (unlike the thinner, hidden spines of Tetraodontidae, which are only visible when the fish has puffed up). The scientific name refers to the four large teeth, fused into an upper and lower plate, which are used for crushing the shells of crustaceans and mollusks, their natural prey.
The majority of pufferfish species are toxic and some are among the most poisonous vertebrates in the world. In certain species, the internal organs, such as liver, and sometimes their skin, contain tetrodotoxin and are highly toxic to most animals when eaten; nevertheless, the meat of some species is considered a delicacy in Japan (as 河豚, pronounced as fugu), Korea (as 복 bok or 복어 bogeo), and China (as 河豚 hétún) when prepared by specially trained chefs who know which part is safe to eat and in what quantity. Other pufferfish species with non-toxic flesh, such as the northern puffer, Sphoeroides maculatus, of Chesapeake Bay, are considered a delicacy elsewhere.
GENERA
The Tetraodontidae contain at least 120 species of puffers in 19 genera.
- Amblyrhynchotes
- Arothron
- Auriglobus
- Canthigaster
- Carinotetraodon
- Chelonodon
- Chonerhinos
- Colomesus
- Contusus
- Feroxodon
- Javichthys
- Lagocephalus
- Leiodon
- Marilyna
- Omegaphora
- Pao
- Pelagocephalus
- Polyspina
- Reicheltia
- Sphoeroides
- Takifugu
- Tetractenos
- Tetraodon
- Torquigener
- Tylerius
DESCRIPTION
They are typically small to medium in size, although a few species can reach lengths of greater than 100 cm.
DISTRIBUTION
They are most diverse in the tropics, relatively uncommon in the temperate zone, and completely absent from cold waters.
ECOLOGY AND HISTORY
Although most species live in inshore and estuarine waters, 29 species spend their entire lifecycles in fresh water. These species are found in disjunct tropical regions of South America (one species), Central Africa (three species) and Southeast Asia (25 species).
NATURAL DEFENSES
The puffer's unique and distinctive natural defenses help compensate for its slow locomotion. It moves by combining pectoral, dorsal, anal, and caudal fins. This makes it highly maneuverable, but very slow, and therefore a comparatively easy predation target. Its tail fin is mainly used as a rudder, but it can be used for a sudden evasive burst of speed that shows none of the care and precision of its usual movements. The puffer's excellent eyesight, combined with this speed burst, is the first and most important defense against predators.
Its backup defense mechanism, used if successfully pursued, is to fill its extremely elastic stomach with water (or air when outside the water) until it is much larger and almost spherical in shape. Even if they are not visible when the puffer is not inflated, all puffers have pointed spines, so a hungry predator may suddenly find itself facing an unpalatable, pointy ball rather than a slow, tasty fish. Predators which do not heed this warning (or which are "lucky" enough to catch the puffer suddenly, before or during inflation) may die from choking, and predators that do manage to swallow the puffer may find their stomachs full of tetrodotoxin, making puffers an unpleasant, possibly lethal, choice of prey. This neurotoxin is found primarily in the ovaries and liver, although smaller amounts exist in the intestines and skin, as well as trace amounts in muscle. It does not always have a lethal effect on large predators, such as sharks, but it can kill humans.
Not all puffers are necessarily poisonous; the flesh of the northern puffer is not toxic (a level of poison can be found in its viscera) and it is considered a delicacy in North America. Takifugu oblongus, for example, is a fugu puffer that is not poisonous, and toxin level varies wildly even in fish that are. A puffer's neurotoxin is not necessarily as toxic to other animals as it is to humans, and puffers are eaten routinely by some species of fish, such as lizardfish and tiger sharks. Also, Japanese fish farmers have grown nonpoisonous puffers by controlling their diets.
Puffers are able to move their eyes independently, and many species can change the color or intensity of their patterns in response to environmental changes. In these respects, they are somewhat similar to the terrestrial chameleon. Although most puffers are drab, many have bright colors and distinctive markings, and make no attempt to hide from predators. This is likely an example of aposematism.
REPRODUCTION
Many marine puffers have a pelagic, or open-ocean, life stage. Spawning occurs after males slowly push females to the water surface or join females already present. The eggs are spherical and buoyant. Hatching occurs after roughly four days. The fry are tiny, but under magnification have a shape usually reminiscent of a pufferfish. They have a functional mouth and eyes, and must eat within a few days. Brackish-water puffers may breed in bays in a similar manner to marine species, or may breed more similarly to the freshwater species, in cases where they have moved far enough upriver.
Reproduction in freshwater species varies quite a bit. The dwarf puffers court with males following females, possibly displaying the crests and keels unique to this subgroup of species. After the female accepts his advances, she will lead the male into plants or another form of cover, where she can release eggs for fertilization. The male may help her by rubbing against her side. This has been observed in captivity, and they are the only commonly captive-spawned puffer species.
Target-group puffers have also been spawned in aquariums, and follow a similar courting behavior, minus the crest/keel display. However, eggs are laid on a flat piece of slate or other smooth, hard material, to which they adhere. The male will guard them until they hatch, carefully blowing water over them regularly to keep the eggs healthy. His parenting is finished when the young hatch, and the fry are on their own.
Information on breeding of specific species is very limited. T. nigroviridis, the green-spotted puffer, has recently been artificially spawned under captive conditions. It is believed to spawn in bays in a similar manner to saltwater species, as their sperm was found to be motile only at full marine salinities, but actual wild breeding has never been observed.
In 2012, males of the species Torquigener albomaculosus were documented carving large geometric, circular structures in the seabed sand in Amami Ōshima, Japan. The structures apparently serve to attract females and provide a safe place for them to lay their eggs.
EVOLUTION
The tetraodontids have been estimated to diverge from diodontids between 89 and 138 million years ago. The four major clades diverged during the Cretaceous between 80 and 101 million years ago. The oldest known pufferfish genus is Eotetraodon, from the Lutetian epoch of Middle Eocene Europe, with fossils found in Monte Bolca and the Caucasus Mountains. The Monte Bolca species, E. pygmaeus, coexisted with several other tetraodontiforms, including an extinct species of diodontid, primitive boxfish (Proaracana and Eolactoria), and other, totally extinct forms, such as Zignoichthys and the spinacanthids. The extinct genus, Archaeotetraodon is known from Miocene-aged fossils from Europe.
Fossil teeth of a possible tetraodontid (referred to as "Pekinosaurus hyperostosis") have been found in the Triassic Pekin Formation of North Carolina, possibly extending their range.
HUMAN INTERACTION
POISONING
Pufferfish can be lethal if not served properly. Puffer poisoning usually results from consumption of incorrectly prepared puffer soup, fugu chiri, or occasionally from raw puffer meat, sashimi fugu. While chiri is much more likely to cause death, sashimi fugu often causes intoxication, light-headedness, and numbness of the lips, and is often eaten for this reason. Pufferfish tetrodotoxin deadens the tongue and lips, and induces dizziness and vomiting, followed by numbness and prickling over the body, rapid heart rate, decreased blood pressure, and muscle paralysis. The toxin paralyzes diaphragm muscles and stops the person who has ingested it from breathing. People who live longer than 24 hours typically survive, although possibly after a coma lasting several days.
The source of tetrodotoxin in puffers has been a matter of debate, but it is increasingly accepted that bacteria in the fish's intestinal tract are the source.
Saxitoxin, the cause of paralytic shellfish poisoning and red tide, can also be found in certain puffers.
THAILAND
Pufferfish, called pakpao in Thailand, are usually consumed by mistake. They are often cheaper than other fish, and because they contain inconsistent levels of toxins between fish and season, there is little awareness or monitoring of the danger. Consumers are regularly hospitalized and some even die from the poisoning.
UNITED STATES
Cases of neurological symptoms, including numbness and tingling of the lips and mouth, have been reported to rise after the consumption of puffers caught in the area of Titusville, Florida, U.S. The symptoms generally resolve within hours to days, although one affected individual required intubation for 72 hours. As a result, Florida banned the harvesting of puffers from certain bodies of water.
THE PHILIPPINES
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources issued a warning not to eat puffer fish, locally known as butete, after local fishermen died upon consuming puffer fish for dinner. The warning indicated that puffer fish toxin is 100 times more potent than cyanide.
POISONING TREATMENT
Treatment consists of intestinal decontamination with gastric lavage and activated charcoal. Case reports suggest anticholinesterases such as edrophonium may be effective.
WIKIPEDIA
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Grossard Point, Ventnor, Phillip Island
Toadfish are common in south-east Australia, and poisonous and shouldn't be eaten.
Artwork by Frank Olsen
Also known as the Whitespotted Puffer, this fish is easily recognisable by its colour pattern. The body is greenish to yellowish brown above and white below. The upper sides of the body and caudal fin are covered in small white spots. The lower sides have white to pale blue lines. The pectoral fin base and gill opening are enclosed by alternating dark and light rings.
The Stars-and-stripes Puffer occurs in tropical and warm temperate marine waters throughout the Indo-Pacific. In Australia, it is recorded from southern Western Australia, around the north of the country, and south to central New South Wales.
Its habitat types include reefs, lagoons, estuaries, and tidepools. Its diet includes calcareous or coralline algae, molluscs, tunicates, sponges, corals, zoanthids, crabs, polychaetes, starfish, urchins, krill, and silversides. The adult is nocturnal and solitary. It is territorial, becoming somewhat aggressive. Like many of its relatives, it has poisonous skin and internal organs.
Description source:
View the original image at the Queensland State Archives:
A bizarrely colored toadfish.
Image ID: expn7227, Voyage To Inner Space - Exploring the Seas With NOAA Collection
Photo Date: 2016 0509 035220Z
Credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas, Leg 1
Splendid Toadfish, Sanopus splendidus
Cozumel Underwater Photo Shootout 2013
Awarded - Mención Honorífica (Honorable Mention)
Under the Destin bridge near Okaloosa Island. I like the little tiny teeth.
Whenever you snorkel at the jetties in Destin you hear this weird underwater "foghorn" sound that sounds man-made. I finally found out that it is male toadfish that produce this sound.
Taxonomy: Klunzinger 1871
Photographer: Arne Kuilman
Location: The Canyon, Dahab, Red Sea, Egypt
Date: March, 2013
Depth: 8 meters
Habitat: Near protective hard corals and edges.
Size: 24cm
Background: The Red Sea endemic, that's less well known than it's Mexican cousin, the splendid toadfish (Sanopus splendidus) which has bright colors.
Weird fact: Can croak underwater. It's how they are named. Described by the same biologist who described the common pink softcorals of the Red Sea.
These fish can croak underwater. It's how they got their name, but I haven't heard it yet. I didn't even know the Red Sea had a toadfish. I thought they specific to Mexico and Asia.
About Carl Klunzinger:
Prof. Dr. Carl Benjamin Klunzinger, (18 Nov. - Güglingen) 1834-1914 (21 June - Stuttgart)), German (Stuttgart) medical doctor & naturalist, who published on fish, crabs and corals from the Red Sea [Pempheris klunzingeri McCulloch, 1911, Lamprometra klunzingeri (Hartlaub, 1890), Leiognathus klunzingeri (Steindachner, 1898), Paraspidosiphon klunzingeri (Selenka & de Man, 1883), Cladiella klunzingeri Thomson & Simpson, 1909].
Toadfish (Chaunax suttkusi). Seamounts in the North of Canary Islands, Spain. Ranger Expedition to the Atlantic Seamounts. September 2014.
Rape bostezador (Chaunax suttkusi) . Montañas submarinas al Norte de Canarias, España. Expedición del Ranger a las montañas submarinas del Atlántico. Septiembre 2014.
Copyright: All images and text on this Flickr® account belong to Oceana. Any questions or requests regarding image use should be sent to asaez@oceana.org and/or digicomms@oceana.org
Taken from a pretty look out point on Roatán Island, you can see the reef in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in the distance.
The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) is a marine region that stretches over 1000 km
The reef system extends along the coast of four countries: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. It begins near Isla Contoy on the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula and continues south alongside the Riviera Maya including areas like Cozumel and Banco Chinchorro. It then continues south down the eastern coast of Belize including many cayes and atolls. It extends past the north-east corner of Guatemala and ends near the Bay Islands of Honduras.
The reef system is home to more than 65 species of stony coral, 350 species of mollusk and more than 500 species of fish.There are numerous species that live in or around the reef system that are endangered or under some degree of protection, including the following: sea turtles (Green turtle, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Leatherback turtle, and the Hawksbill turtle), the Queen Conch, the West Indian Manatee, the Splendid toadfish, the American crocodile, the Morelet's Crocodile, the Nassau grouper, Elkhorn coral, and black coral.
The reef system is home to one of the world's largest populations of manatees, with an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 of them.
Deep-sea fish, such as this toadfish, have evolved bizarre morphological features as adaptations to this extreme enviroment. Image captured by the Little Hercules ROV at 600 meters depth on the Paramount seamounts.
Image ID: expl6361, Voyage To Inner Space - Exploring the Seas With NOAA Collect
Location: Pacific Ocean, Paramount Seamount
Photo Date: 2011 July 14
Credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Galapagos Rift Expedition 2011
Oyster toadfish, Opsanus tau.
Image ID: fish3903, NOAA's Fisheries Collection
Location: Atlantic Ocean, Southeast U.S. shelf/slope area
Photo Date: 2004
Credit: Andrew David, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC Panama City; Lance Horn, UNCW/NURC - Phantom II ROV operator.
I was luck enough to get to the river in time to see this Heron catch an Oyster Toadfish ( www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/oyster_toadfish ). Soon as I saw her cock her neck I knew she had spotted dinner. She flew off to eat in private,
James River, Newport News, Virginia)
Created with fd's Flickr Toys
The winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, (also known as black back) is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is native to coastal waters of the western north Atlantic coast, from Labrador, Canada to Georgia, United States. In the waters from Newfoundland down through Massachusetts Bay it is the most common near-shore (shallow-water) flounder. It grows up to 64 cm in length and 3.6 kg in weight.
It spends the summer off shore in deeper waters, and winters in shallow coastal estuaries rivers and bays.
Winter flounders are highly regarded for their delicious white meat. They are sometimes called lemon sole in the U.S.
They can be differentiated from summer flounder because they almost always have eyes on the right side of their bodies. They also do not have teeth. Summer flounder have their eyes on the left side of their bodies, and do have teeth.
A gene from Pseudopleuronectes americanus was used to create a transgenic tomato plant by DNA Plant Technology in 1991. This gene encodes a fusion protein which when expressed may lower the threshold temperature at which freezing damage to the plant occurs.
The name ‘winter’ flounder refers to its annual spawning migrations into nearshore waters in winter. Adult winter flounder migrations consist of two phases; an autumn estuarine immigration prior to spawning, and a late spring/summer movement to either deeper, cooler portions of estuaries or to offshore areas after spawning. This pattern of seasonal distribution may change in the colder waters of the northern extent of the flounder’s range where it migrates to shallow water in the summer and deeper waters in the winter. The annual spawning period for winter flounder varies over its geographic range. Although spawning periods overlap considerably, peak spawning times are earlier in southern locations.
During spawning, females release eggs whose properties facilitate retention within spawning grounds. A number of factors influence larval and juvenile growth and survival, including temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and food availability. Nursery habitat for winter flounder larvae and juveniles is typically saltwater coves, coastal salt ponds, and estuaries although larvae and juveniles have also been found in open ocean areas. Larvae are predominantly found in the upper reaches of natal estuaries in early spring, moving into the lower estuary later in the season.
Sources of natural mortality for winter flounder include predation, parasites, disease, and competition. Predatory fish such as striped bass, bluefish, toadfish, and summer flounder, as well as birds, invertebrates, and marine mammals prey on larvae and juveniles. Atlantic cod, spiny dogfish, goosefish, and winter skate are the main predators of adult winter flounder. Little skate, smooth dogfish, hakes, sea raven, striped sea robin, striped bass, bluefish, and wrymouth also consume adult winter flounder in smaller amounts.
Winter flounder diet is limited by their small mouth size. Adults feed mostly on small invertebrates, shrimp, clams, and worms. Feeding occurs solely during the day because winter flounder depend on sight to locate prey, and intensifies during ebbing and flooding tides. At night, winter flounder lie flat with their eye turrets retracted until sunrise
New York Aquarium Coney Island NY
A bizarrely colored toadfish.
Image ID: expn7228, Voyage To Inner Space - Exploring the Seas With NOAA Collection
Photo Date: 2016 0509 035520Z
Credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas, Leg 1
VIMS graduate student Diego Biston Vas took this color-enhanced image of an Oyster Toadfish with a Zeiss Microscope at VIMS' Fisheries Anatomy Lab.
The oyster toadfish, Opsanus tau, also known as the ugly toad or the oyster cracker, is a fish of the family Batrachoididae. The maximum length of the toadfish is about 38 cm; the most common recorded length of an oyster toadfish is about 30 cm. They are generally yellowish with a pattern of brown oblique bars.
The species can live in very bad conditions and needs little food to live. It is an omnivore. Common prey include crustaceans, mollusks, amphipods, squid, and other smaller fish. Toadfish rely upon camouflage to catch their food; they lie motionless waiting for prey to wander close by, then attack by surprise. They can be found anywhere from Maine to the Caribbean Sea.
The fish has a distinctive "foghorn" sound that is used by males to attract females in the mating season, which is April-October. Following the foghorn sound, the female comes into the nest, lays eggs, then leaves (the toadfish lays the largest eggs of any Chesapeake Bay fish). The male fertilizes the egg; they hatch after approximately one month. When the eggs hatch the young toadfish stay attached to the yolk 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.
In 1997, NASA sent the Oyster toadfish into space to investigate the effects of microgravity on the development of otolithic organs.
Opsanus tau (TSN 164423). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 30 January 2006.
"Opsanus tau". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 10 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
[1] Hear the foghorn-like sound of the Oyster Toadfish. From [2]
[3] the NASA experiment
[4] more NASA