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Opsanus beta (Goode & Bean, 1880)

Gulf toadfish
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Opsanus beta   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Opsanus beta (Gulf toadfish)
Opsanus beta
Picture by Reid, R.


United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Gulf toadfish
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Also Ref. 26280, 26340, 41041.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Batrachoidiformes (Toadfishes) > Batrachoididae (Toadfishes) > Batrachoidinae
Etymology: beta: Named for its type locality, Brazil..
  More on authors: Goode & Bean.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal.   Subtropical; 35°N - 15°N, 98°W - 74°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Florida (USA), Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas) and the entire Gulf of Mexico to Campeche, Mexico (Ref. 7251). Range extended to Brazil (Ref. 94035).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 7.6, range 10 - ? cm
Max length : 33.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 85752)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dark brown bars on caudal and pectoral fins; bars on pectoral fin irregularly joined (Ref. 26938).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Commonly found in seagrass beds and rocky cuts in coastal bays and lagoons, and in shallows along open coast. In western coast of Florida, adults spawn in February and March (Ref. 26938). Nesting males produce grunt calls called the boatwhistle as advertisement of competition among males and to attract females (Ref. 45338). Neither opercular nor dorsal gland is venomous (Ref. 57406).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Collette, Bruce B. | Collaborators

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 23 November 2018

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 31174)




Human uses

FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 23.3 - 27.9, mean 24.6 (based on 316 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01288 (0.00798 - 0.02079), b=3.06 (2.92 - 3.20), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.218; tm=1+).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100).