Animalia > Chordata > Batrachoidiformes > Batrachoididae > Opsanus > Opsanus tau

Opsanus tau (Oyster toadfish)

Synonyms: Batrachus tau; Gadus tau; Opsanus cerapalus
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Wikipedia Abstract

The oyster toadfish, Opsanus tau, also known as the ugly toad, oyster cracker, oyster catcher, and bar dog, 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. In 1998, NASA sent the oyster toadfish into space to investigate the effects of microgravity on the development of otolithic organs. The study found little difference between terrestrial development and those in space.
View Wikipedia Record: Opsanus tau

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge VI 16363 Delaware, United States
Canaveral National Seashore II 9090 Florida, United States
Gateway National Recreation Area V 1807 New Jersey, United States

Prey / Diet

Panopeus herbstii (Atlantic mud crab)[1]
Zostera marina (Eel Grass)[2]

Predators

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Hysterothylacium habena[4]
Otobothrium cysticum[4]

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1HABITAT COMPLEXITY DISRUPTS PREDATOR–PREY INTERACTIONS BUT NOT THE TROPHIC CASCADE ON OYSTER REEFS, JONATHAN H. GRABOWSKI, Ecology, 85(4), 2004, pp. 995–1004
♦ 2Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 3Ontogenetic Shifts in the Diet of Gag, Mycteroperca microlepis, (Goode and Bean), (Pisces: Serranidae), Michael D. Mullaney, Jr., Proceedings of the 43rd Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, pp. 432-445 (1994)
♦ 4Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0