Toad fish. Fancy Fish Sea Frog Fish

It would seem that we live in a time when everything has already been discovered, found and studied, and there are no unknown animals at all.

But, nevertheless, nature does not get tired of making surprises to man. An example of such a surprise was the discovery in 2009 by zoologists David Hall, Rachel Arnold and Ted Pitsch of Histiophryne psychedelica, or, simply put, the psychedelic frogfish. This is a small fish, only about fifteen centimeters long. But she has such an outstanding appearance that at first it is even difficult to understand - is it a fish or something else?

Psychedelic fish is a representative of the anglerfish order, zoologists consider it a "relative" of the monkfish.

But they have differences: to attract prey, it uses a special process on its head, and the psychedelic frogfish has developed its own methods of hunting, for which the presence of a process is simply not required. The psychedelic fish, like the monkfish, belongs to the clownfish family, in which this fish has other "relatives", including the decorated frogfish.

One of characteristic features psychedelic fish (and other frog fish, by the way), is the presence of a thick and loose skin. But this fish has no scales at all. Coral reefs are a common habitat for psychedelic fish. This is a great place to hunt. But there is also back side medals - it can harm the skin of psychedelic fish. This explains the fact that the skin of this fish is often covered with mucus, which avoids injury from sharp corals.

The psychedelic frogfish has an unusual coloration - many stripes of white, brown and yellowish colors that form an intricate motley pattern. Just like fingerprints on humans and stripes on tigers, the arrangement of the stripes on each psychedelic fish is completely different.

At first glance, it may seem that psychedelic fish can scare off potential prey with such a colorful color. In fact, the opposite is true: these multi-colored stripes on the body of the frog fish resemble corals, and it is this circumstance that helps it to camouflage itself perfectly. Sometimes it is simply impossible to distinguish fish from coral without special equipment. Most often, psychedelic frogfish can be seen in coral reefs near the island of Bali in Indonesia.

The eyes of the psychedelic fish also attract attention. Although they are quite small in size, in fact they give the impression of being quite large due to the bright turquoise spots located on the head of the fish. They are also called "slaps". The psychedelic frogfish, like most other abodes of the sea, has potential opponents.

To scare them away from themselves, the frog fish has developed its own method of intimidation: it protrudes its mouth forward, as a result, the head of the fish visually increases in size. And her enemy can not stand such a spectacle and retreats. The eyes of a psychedelic fish are located in the same way as in humans: in front, and not on the sides, as is typical for most fish.

The underwater world is rich in various inhabitants. Some are well known to us, others are not. Let's meet one of unusual inhabitants World Ocean. I want to ask a question.

What do you imagine when you hear the word frog

Probably, for many, the image of such a frog that lives in swamps and croaks immediately emerges. But it turns out in the world of fish, there is also a pile of toads, but only fish.

The very name fish - toad says that it should be similar to its namesake. And indeed it is. Her body is covered with growths and poisonous spikes. Scales characteristic of fish are absent. Most the body is made up of a large head, on which high-set eyes are located.

This fish burrows almost completely into the sand or silt, leaving its eyes on the surface. In this position, it can be for hours, lying in wait for prey. Disguise helps well and the color of her body. The yellowish-brown coloring helps blend in with the color of the bottom. All this makes the fish almost invisible. And it turns out that prey often goes into her mouth on her own.

One has only to swim past some fish, as a toad fish opens its huge mouth with lightning speed and swallows its prey. This fish is a predator, but in difficult times it can also feed on vegetation. But the most interesting thing is that she can “sing”, however, this property is not inherent in all toad fish, but only a three-spined toad fish is capable of making sounds similar to singing in two voices. Of the natural inhabitants, this is inherent only in songbirds, some species of mammals and a baby.

And the most unusual thing is that this singing is helped by what you would think ... a swim bladder. It is divided into two parts in a three-spined toad fish. Each of the parts has muscles and nerve endings that can contract about 200 times per second. And as a result of these contractions, a two-voice “singing” occurs. Other types of toadfish also make sounds, but these sounds are similar to grinding and grumbling. Tellingly, their swim bladder has a single structure.

The question arises: why does the toad fish need these sounds?

There is no single answer. Perhaps in order to scare away enemies from their territory or to call a partner of the opposite sex during the mating season.

The mating season begins in June, early July. The female lays up to 500 eggs and for three weeks these eggs are guarded by the male, only sometimes the female comes to replace him. The fry are very reminiscent of tadpoles. But even after the offspring has appeared, the parents take care of him, protect him until the young fish gain experience and get strong enough to continue an independent life.

toad fish lives in warm tropical seas. She likes the waters of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, her home is the reefs and mangroves off the coast of China, Malaysia and Australia.

The toad fish has poisonous spines, but a prick of them to lethal outcome does not lead, although it can bring a lot of trouble. Therefore, when walking in shallow water, one must be careful not to step on this marine inhabitant.

And in conclusion, I would like to note that the saying "dumb as a fish" is not entirely true. As we see that there is a fish that can even sing.

Family: Batrachoididae = Frog-like

Class: Actinopterygii Klein, 1885 = Ray-finned fish
Order: Batrachoidiformes = Toad-like (Batrachoid)
Family: Batrachoididae = Frog-like
Genus: Opsanus = Toad fish
Species: Opsanus tau (Linnaeus, 1766) = Toad fish

The toad fish Opsanus tau is found throughout the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. She lives mainly on a sandy or muddy bottom, while she sometimes burrows into it up to her very eyes. Most of the body is made up of a huge head flattened on top, with an equally large mouth. In length, the toad fish reaches 20-35 centimeters. Toad fish is the owner of poisonous spikes, which pose a certain danger to people swimming in the water.

Toad fish is capable of making various sounds that have the character of gnashing, hoarse grunts, or may even resemble a horn. These sounds are mainly issued as warning signals to possible aliens that a given area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe seabed is already occupied by them. At the same time, the sound signals emitted by these fish are very strong, and in the immediate vicinity of the toad fish, their beeps sometimes have a strength of over 100 decibels, thus reaching an intensity that is painful for the ear.

The toad fish Opsanus tau is just one of many marine fish from family Batrachoididae known as Toads. These fish are sometimes kept in aquariums and are often sold under several different names, including Mudtoad, Evil Toad, etc. As you can imagine, with the nickname like Evil Toad This fish looks rather strange with yellowish-brown coloration and sharp teeth. Toadfish also have sharp, poisonous dorsal spines, so be careful when unhooking them! Toad fish is not very long, it only grows to about 39cm.

Both the male and female of this species make croaking sounds when threatened or caught. It is the males of this species that have the ability to make a sound resembling a siren signal, which they use during the mating season from April to October to attract females. The sound producer is a special sound muscle that is attached to its swim bladder and is the fastest twitch known vertebrate muscle. The males build a nest and serenades their female counterparts in the form of a beautiful croak. After courtship, the male fertilizes the eggs, which hatch into larvae about a month later. All this time, the male will remain at the place of laying eggs and guard the eggs and larvae after they hatch.

When young eggs hatch, they still have yolk left for some time. When the yolk is completely absorbed, the young toadfish begin to learn how to swim. Even when the young have begun to swim, adult males still protect their children.

In 1998, NASA sent a toad fish into space to investigate the effect of weightlessness on the development of otolithic organs. The study showed that there is little difference between ground development and their development in outer space under weightless conditions.

Toad fish is an omnivore that feeds on a variety of foods. They usually prey on small fish, crabs, shellfish, worms, crustaceans and squid. Toad fish is a predator, hunting mainly from ambush, motionlessly lying in wait for prey. She can lie still for a long time while potential food approaches her, and then attacks her with amazing speed!

More and more often, nature presents us with amazing surprises. Every year, zoologists discover more and more new species of animals and plants. Sometimes discoveries are simply amazing - how has this creature been hidden from our eyes for so long?

For example, quite recently, in 2008, a very unusual fish was found off the coast of Indonesia and the islands of Bali and Ambon - (lat. Histiophryne psychedelica). Looking at her extraordinary appearance, you begin to doubt - is it really a fish?

A distinctive feature of the fish is its skin - it is thick and flabby. The scales are completely absent, the body is covered with a layer of mucus. The thick skin and mucus protect the frogfish from the sharp corals it comes into contact with during an unsuccessful maneuver. Front pectoral fins more like the paws of mammals, with the help of them, the fish can crawl and jump, pushing off a hard surface with their fins.

The coloring of the fish is bright and colorful - many white, yellow and brown stripes form an interesting pattern. It would seem that such diversity should distinguish the fish from surrounding nature, but this is not at all the case - the frog fish is completely camouflaged among the coral forests. The pattern of psychedelic fish is unique, just like a human fingerprint or a cat's nose print. In front of the broad muzzle are the eyes. They are small, but thanks to the bluish edging, the eyes seem huge, so the fish has an amazing facial expression.

The closest relatives of the psychedelic fish are angler and the angler, however, the former do not have a bait rod. For hunting, they use other methods - surprise and speed.

Some experts believe that the psychedelic frogfish - deep sea fish, but rises to shallow water for mating and breeding.

The frog fish wrapped its fertilized eggs with its tail

It is found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans on a muddy or sandy bottom, sometimes burrowing into it up to the very eyes.

It hunts small fish, crabs, mollusks, worms, motionlessly lying in wait for prey that dared to approach it.

The body consists mainly of a flattened head with a large mouth and reaches 20-35 cm in length.

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