Oyster Toadfish

Sounds like a great program. Keep up the good work.

Yes, I did actually! We do tours of the Sedge Islands in Island Beach State Park by kayaks. Along with catching and identifying fish with the seine net, we also do some bird watching and clamming.

Did you catch this in a seine net? For an education program?

Yes! One of my very favorite animals! The Oyster Toadfish lays some of the largest eggs in the brackish water environment (1/4" diameter). The fathers are very good parents. The female will lay the eggs and leave and the male will watch the eggs until they hatch and continue to watch the babies for a while after. Toadfish used to be known for laying their eggs in empty oyster boxes but have been seen recently taking advantage of reclaimed human waste such as cans and bottles for this purpose. The croaking of a toadfish mating call is one of the fastest recorded movements in a vertebrate. They are also a scaleless fish but have a nice coating of mucus for safety. The oyster toadfish was thought to consume oysters in the past but it is unlikely they were able to get past the oysters security even with the very powerful jaws. It is more likely they just use their camouflage and lay in wait in the benthos for a delicious bluecrab or hogchoker to swim by! What a lovely spotting!

Cool

Cute little guy (at the moment at least!)
Welcome to Project Noah nmmccann!