English: Toadfish; Frogfish.
Name: batrakhos is Greek for frog.
Genera: 21; 1 family Batrachoididae; 4 subfamilies
Region: worldwide.
Habitat: marine, though some brackish; benthic;sandy or muddy substrates; bottom, from near-shore areas to deep waters; hiding in rock crevices, among the bottom vegetation, or even dig dens in the bottom sediments, from which they ambush their prey; can survive out of water for as long as 24 hours; some can move across exposed mudflats at low tide using their fins.
ZoologyFish; toad-like appearance; scaleless; eyes set high on large heads; mouths are large, with maxilla and premaxilla, often decorated with barbels and skin flaps; vertebrae from 25 to 47; some have photophores and four lateral lines; ability to "sing", hum' or 'whistle', using the swim bladder as a sound-production device, to attract mates.
Color: cryptic, drab, brown.
Size: 7 to 57 cm long.
Gills: small; only on the sides; sharp spines on the opercle, gill cover.
Fins: pelvic fins are forward of the pectoral fins, usually under the gills, and have one spine with several soft rays; first dorsal fins are small with sharp spines; second dorsal fin has 15 to 25 soft rays; some have hollow spines, capable of delivering venom, giving a painful wound to predators.
Food: omnivorous; sea worms, crustaceans, mollusks, fish; benthic ambush predators.
Reproduction: eggs are sticky on one side, attached to the side of the nest; males attracts numerous females to his nest; male guards the nest against predators; eggs rapidly develop into embryos, attached to the side of the nest until the age of about three to four weeks, afetwards continue to cluster around and hide behind the male.