#toad fish

[nemfrog]

“A fat toad fish squatted at the bottom watching the slim bony fish as they leap.” The giant fish of Florida. 1902.

Internet Archive

Pretty sure the toad fish is to the left of the black rock and to the right of the grass.

[crazyfishmaiden]

Meet Snickers. He’s called a “Freshwater Lionfish” but in reality he’s a little brackish toadfish. I believe his specific identifier would be  “ Batrachomoeus trispinosus”.

Snickers is going to help demonstrate why it’s important that as fish keepers, and store owners are responsible with the ability to sell medications for fish, that normally require a prescription for people, or dogs/cats. There is a loop-hole essentially that allows for companies to make things like fish grade penicillin. I say fish grade, because the dosing is supposed to be specific to fish. 

Why would it be useful to have access to such things? Well Snickers here shipped in with an awful face scar looking thing, that was completely fungal looking, but also appeared to have been rooted in a really odd bacterial infection. The longer he was with us, the more of his face it would cover, eventually claiming one eye. The first product that seemed to work was maracyin, but what ever he had was determined, and it came back very quickly even after doing proper dosage. We went through everything we use standard, initially. Multiple medication attempts to get him better.

Finally, we decided to use fish-pen (which is penicillin). We had to dose every day for a period of time, and as you can see it worked! Snickers got his appetite back, he face and one eye is now completely normal and he’s just the cutest little ugg-face ever. One of my co-worker is hoping to set up a tank and bring him home soon.

The thing is, this success story might not have been possible if we didn’t have access to the stronger medications. Unfortunately there are people out there that are going to pet-stores, buying out all of their stock of drugs like this and using them for personal use, or for their cats or dogs. This by itself is likely illegal, but it is also dangerous. One of the things I fret about time to time is if this loop-hole will one day be closed due to this.

I personally go out of my way to ask questions, and I make it a point to explain to each buyer exactly what they need to know. That this is not safe for human consumption, or cat, or dog. I’ve also refused to sell it when the person couldn’t even cough up the name of the species they were treated, or symptoms of any type. It has only happened a few times, but I am always wary when people request these products.

Anyway hope you all enjoyed this post, and Snicker’s delightedly silly face.

[dyin]

Toadfish: mmm yeah baby lemme boatwhistle at u

Bottlenose dolphin: *pop blocks*

[effallayall-blog]

So I went fishing the other day. Caught this, I was so terrified

[unirdg-collections]

Technically this is a rare books animal, but we still submitted it for #archiveanimals yesterday because we love it. Specifically, this is a Toad Fish from Bloch's Ichthyologie.

[biomedicalephemera]

Chironectes bifurcatus [now Rhycherus filamentosus] - The Two-pronged Toad-fish [now the Tasseled Anglerfish]

Despite its accepted current name as the "tasseled anglerfish", this species is a true frogfish, from the family Antennariidae. While frogfish are members of the same order as all anglerfish (Lophiiformes), they are fairly specialized dwellers on the continental shelf, relying on camouflage to capture their prey, while the deep-sea (benthic) anglerfish rely much more upon stealth and the allure of their, er, lure.

In figure 1a, you can see the structure of the teeth of the tasseled anglerfish. While it doesn't have the big, stabbing, pointy teeth of some of its cousins, the small, sharp, closely-linked teeth function like tiny hooks in its prey, preventing them from escaping while they're being eaten. This gives us the additional fun fact that most frogfish (including this one) end up eating their prey while it's still fully alive and conscious (or at least as conscious as a fish can be) - without any gnashing or tearing of the body, the only thing that kills the prey is suffocation and acid within the stomach.

Natural History of Victoria: Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria. Decade VI. Frederick McCoy, 1881.

[blongshlong-blog]

toadfish