Frog fish

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Frog fish
Indeterminate frogfish in the Red Sea

Indeterminate frogfish in the Red Sea

Systematics
Sub-cohort : Neoteleostei
Acanthomorphata
Spinefish (Acanthopterygii)
Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae)
Order : Batrachoidiformes
Family : Frog fish
Scientific name of the  order
Batrachoidiformes
Berg , 1937
Scientific name of the  family
Batrachoididae
Bonaparte , 1832

Frogfish (Batrachoididae) (from the Greek batrachos = "frog"), also called toad fish, are bottom-dwelling fish of tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic , Indian Ocean and Pacific . The Lusitanian toadfish ( Halobatrachus didactylus ) is also found in the Mediterranean Sea and on the Atlantic coast of southwestern Europe as far as the Biscay . Some species live in freshwater in Central and South America .

features

Frogfish have an elongated body, large flattened head, and large mouth. The lower jaw protrudes and surmounts the upper jaw. The eyes are more on the surface of the head than on the sides of the head. The gill slits are small and are located in front of the base of the pectoral fin. The three gill arches have grown together below. The number of Branchiostegal rays is six. Numerous, frayed skin flaps or barbels often grow on the head, especially on the edge of the upper jaw . The first dorsal fin consists only of two to three thick hard rays . The second dorsal fin and anal fin are long and supported by many soft rays. The pelvic fins have one hard and two to three soft rays and sit far forward, in front of the large, fan-shaped pectoral fins . The fish have no ribs and are usually scaly. Small cycloid scales are only found in a few species . A swim bladder , with which some species can make grunting or croaking noises, is present, as well as one or more lateral line organs on the head and on the flanks. The species of the subfamily Thalassophryninae have venomous spines, the subfamily Porichthyinae have luminous organs .

Frogfish are 5.5 to 57 centimeters long and are usually dark, brownish in color with dots or saddle-shaped blackish spots. Only the coral toadfish ( Sanopus splendidus ), which lives in coral reefs , has a conspicuous coloration.

Way of life

Frogfish live at depths of ten to 250 meters on sandy or muddy bottoms, only a few species in coral reefs . They are very lazy and, as ambushers, feed on crustaceans , fish, octopus and snails . The fish take care of their brood and both parents or the males guard their eggs that have been laid in caves. After about three weeks, the tadpole- like fish larvae hatch , which have adhesive discs on their belly. Frogfish can bite if they are touched by divers. Some species can survive out of the water for hours.

External system

The frogfish (Batrachoididae) are the only family of the frogfish-like (Batrachoidiformes). They were now traditionally no more than in the (in's then circumference) monophyletic respected superiority of the paracanthopterygii classified, are according to recent phylogenetic research results but part of the perch family .

Internal system

There are four subfamilies, 23 genera and about 80 species.

Subfamily Batrachoidinae

The Batrachoidinae live on the coasts of Africa, South Asia, Australia, so they are limited to the Old World . The animals have three dorsal fin hard rays and one to three lateral lines. 6 genera and about 25 species:

Batrachoides liberiensis
Batrachoides surinamensis

Subfamily Halophryninae

The Halophryninae live on the coasts of North, Central and South America. One species each in the fresh water of Central and South America. The animals have three dorsal fin hard rays and one to three lateral lines. 13 genera and about 30 species:

Batrachomoeus dubius

Subfamily Porichthyinae

The Porichthyinae live in the eastern Pacific and western Atlantic, on the coasts of America. Three types in fresh water. The animals have two dorsal fin hard rays and several lateral lines. Some species have luminous organs along the side lines. They are the only fish with luminous organs that live in shallow water. They are intended to be used at courtship. 2 genera and 15 species:

Subfamily Thalassophryninae

The Thalassophryninae live in the eastern Pacific and western Atlantic, on the coasts of America and in Central and South America in fresh water. The two rays of the first dorsal fin are hollow and communicate with poison glands. The fish have a sideline, which can also be absent, and no scales. 2 genera and 11 species:

swell

literature

  • Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World , John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7
  • Kurt Fiedler: Textbook of Special Zoology, Volume II, Part 2: Fish , Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1991, ISBN 3-334-00339-6
  • BB Collette: Order Batrachoidiformes. Page 1026 in FAO Species Identification guide for Fishery Purposes: The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Atlantic, Volume 2 Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae) , ISSN  1020-6868

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Masaki Miya et al. (2005): The phylogenetic position of toadfishes (order Batrachoidiformes) in the higher ray-finned fish as inferred from partitioned Bayesian analysis of 102 whole mitochondrial genome sequences. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 85 Issue 3, 2005, Pages 289 - 306 doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8312.2005.00483.x
  2. ^ Johnson, G. David & E. 0. Wiley. 2007. Percomorpha. in The Tree of Life Web Project

Web links

Commons : Frogfish  - Collection of images, videos and audio files