Oyster Toadfish

Toadfish

Opsanus tau

Size: to 15"

Habitat:

Generally inshore on hard bottoms and in shellfish beds, in 30-40 foot depths.

Notes:

Small but feisty, this fish may snap at your fingers with its powerful jaws when caught. Up close, Toadfish have ugly ogre-like faces, and eyes that seem to glow red from inside. They also make loud croaking noises during the breeding season. Toadfish are favorite laboratory subjects and have even flown in orbit on the Space Shuttle.

Toadfish

Toadfish
Toadfish
Herb Segars Photography

H10224/86 -- OPR-C121-WH-86; WHILE INVESTIGATING ITEM 751, AN AREA WITH NUMEROUS SIDE-SCAN SONAR CONTACT WAS FOUND AND DEVELOPED USING SIDE-SCAN AND ECHO SOUNDER; DIVER INVESTIGATION DETERMINED LIMITS OF SITE, NATURE OF WRECKAGE, AND LOCATION OF THE LEAST DEPTH; SITE WAS ORIENTED NORTHEAST-SOUTHWEST; CONSISTS MOSTLY OF SHIPYARD DEBRIS IN THE FORM OF HEAT EXCHANGERS, BUCKLED DECK PLATING, TWISTED ANGLE IRON, WOODEN RIBS, AND PIPING OF VARIOUS LENGTHS AND SIZES; THE NORTHEAST END OF THE SITE CONSISTED OF A BARGE LYING IN A NORTHWEST-SOUTHEAST DIRECTION WITH THE BOW OF THE BARGE DEFINING THE SOUTHEAST WALL OF THE SITE; THE NORTHWEST END OF THE BARGE, THE STERN, WAS COVERED WITH METAL DEBRIS, HAWSER LINES, AND TRAWLER NETTING; DIVERS CONCLUDED THAT THIS SITE IS THE WRECK OF A BARGE THAT WAS FILLED WITH SHIPYARD SCRAP IRON AND DEBRIS; PNEUMATIC DEPTH GAUGE LEAST DEPTH OF 50 FT. (ENTERED MSD 4/91)