Smooth toadfish

The smooth toadfish is a species of fish in the pufferfish family Tetraodontidae. It is native to shallow coastal and estuarine waters of southeastern Australia. Early records confused it with its close relative, the common toad fish. The fish is highly poisonous because of the tetrodotoxin present in its body.

About Smooth toadfish in brief

The smooth toadfish is a species of fish in the pufferfish family Tetraodontidae. It is native to shallow coastal and estuarine waters of southeastern Australia, where it is widespread and abundant. Early records confused it with its close relative, the common toad fish. Up to 16 cm long with distinctive leopard-like dark markings on its dorsal side, it has a rounded front and tapers to a narrow tail at the back. Unlike most of its relatives, it does not have prominent spines on its body. It forages for its preferred foods, molluscs and crustaceans, in sand and mud of the bottom sediment. The fish is highly poisonous because of the tetrodotoxin present in its body, and eating it may result in death. The specific name glaber is from the Latin adjective glăber, meaning “bald”; it is the only member of the genus Tetractenos. It was first described in 1813 by French naturalist Christophe-Paulin de La Poix de Fréminville. The species was erected a new genus in publishing the species as Aphanacanthe reticulatus in 1855 from a description authored by his countryman Gabriel Bibron. In 1959, Yseult Le Danois equated this species name to Tetractenos hamiltoni, but New Zealand zoologist Graham Hardy later reviewed the specimens labelled as T. hamiltoni and found that they should be assigned to T.

 glaber. In 1983, Hardy reassigned the species to the genera Tetrodon and reassigned it to a more restricted definition of Tetro don, including Torquigener glaber and Gastrophysus glaber, both of which became wastebasket taxa after it became clear that it fell outside a more general definition of the Tetracteno genus. It has been found to inflate itself with water or air, and is often an unwanted catch by anglers. It can grow to a length of up to 16cm (7.5 inches) in length. It lives in shallow coastal waters in Victoria and Tasmania, and can be found in the Tasmanian outcrops of Hobart, Flinders Island and Port Phillip. It feeds on crustacean and mollUScs, among other things, in the sand and sediment of the coastal waters. It also has a narrow, rounded tail that tapers into a narrow and pointed dorsal side. It is the only members of the genera Tetractene, which has gone through several taxonomic changes since discovery. The genus name is a nomen nudum as it doesn’t provide enough detail or information to diagnose or properly describe the species.

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