Oyster toad fish
Opsanus tau
Where is it found?
Marine
Diet and foraging method
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Lie motionless on the ocean floor and then ambush their prey
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Key adaptations
Oyster toad fishes are well camouflaged and blend in with the sea floor, which allows them to ambush their prey and swallow it whole. They have a strong jaw and teeth for crushing the hard shells of their prey.
Social organisation and mating system
Polygynous mating system; males have a nest and multiple females lay their eggs in it.
Did you know that...?
The oyster toad fish makes a load bellowing call like a foghorn to advertise its presence in an area, which is particularly noisy during the mating season. It has been said to be so loud that people living on houseboats above where the toadfishes are nesting are kept awake at night! The muscles that they use to produce this sound are said to be the fastest known vertebrate muscles.
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Oyster Toadfish" by Claire H. - originally posted to Flickr as Oyster Toadfish. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oyster_Toadfish.jpg#/media/File:Oyster_Toadfish.jpg
"Oyster Toadfish" by Claire H. - originally posted to Flickr as Oyster Toadfish. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oyster_Toadfish.jpg#/media/File:Oyster_Toadfish.jpg