Toad fish. An amazing creation of nature: the toad fish
I. Starkov
Did you know that the panda fish is no bigger than an ant?
More than 30 thousand species of fish are known to science, and they are all different from each other. Some fish are dry as chips - skin and bones, while others are so fat that they burst into flames from a match. For example, a candle fish is eulachon. The Indians used it to illuminate their homes: they threaded a string through dried eulachon and set it on fire. The fish-candle burns long and evenly.
Candlefish
On the ground there are flying fish, poison dart fish and walking fish, arrow fish and electric fish. In short, hundreds of amazing fish live in rivers, lakes and rivers. Let's meet some.
Fishes with radars
Imagine an African river. The water in it is pitch-black - so little light penetrates into the depths. A small fish burrows at the very bottom. With long and narrow jaws, like tweezers, she deftly pulls out shells, larvae, and worms from the silt. This is the "water elephant" - mormyrus. 
Elephant fish
It received the name “elephant” for its long snout, elongated like a trunk.
Sometimes this fish swims from place to place with its tail first and does not encounter obstacles. You might think that mormyrus has eyes on its tail - it maneuvers so deftly between plants.
Suddenly the mormirus became alert and rushed towards the shore. The long body of the javelin darted after him. Late! Mormirus managed to duck under a snag, leaving the predator with nothing.
For a long time, scientists could not understand why Mormirus always knew about the approach of an enemy. It turned out that Mormyrus can “feel” objects from a distance, “see” them through opaque barriers... with its tail. The tail of the mormyrus contains a small electrical organ. Its voltage is only 6 volts, like a flashlight battery. This miniature transmitter sends radio waves in all directions. The waves are reflected from objects and captured by another organ. An elephant, a real locator.
Mormirus is a friendly fish and tolerates captivity well. True, when people enter the room, the mormyrus begins to restlessly rush around the aquarium, looking for shelter. 
Knife fish
Mormirus is not the only animal with a locator. Another fish lives in Africa - gymnarhus. The locator is located in its finger-shaped tail. American gymnotid fish also have a more advanced adaptation. Gymnotids are called "living knives". Knives live in dense thickets of aquatic plants. They do not swim like ordinary fish, but glide from plant to plant, quickly and deftly crawling through narrow cracks.
However, among the fish there are not only “living knives”, but also accurate shooters. For example, the Malayan splash fish. It's a sniper! Of course, the splashed fish does not shoot at snipes and great snipes, but at mosquitoes and flies on which it feeds.
The splasher is small - about 20 centimeters. It lives in the sea, in shallow waters, off the coasts of India, Indonesia and Northern Australia. 
The squirrel is loved in Indonesia. It can be seen in almost every home.
Bryzgun
In the center of the aquarium in which the splasher swims, a stick with a cross at the end is strengthened vertically. Flies, mosquitoes, and beetles are placed on the crosspiece.
Noticing the insect, the splasher becomes alert, spreads its dorsal fin like a fan and carefully swims up to the stick. At first, he silently swims around her, as if choosing a position, then he freezes, lifts the tip of his muzzle above the water and shoots.
If the shot is successful, the splasher rushes to the fallen fly and swallows it. If he misses, he calmly continues to describe circles around the stick and, having chosen a comfortable position, shoots again.
However, the squirrel rarely “smears”. A special mouth design helps him shoot accurately. This fish's mouth resembles a tiny gun barrel.
Bryzgun also likes to shoot at illegal targets. For example, in the eye of a bending person. It happened that the splasher put out a cigarette with a well-aimed shot.
At the competition, some fish extinguished lit matches and extinguished candles with several well-aimed hits. In such competitions, not only accuracy is taken into account, but also the range of the shot. A stream of water thrown out of the fish’s mouth flies 4–5 meters.
But usually the spray gun perfectly hits the target at a distance of a meter and a half, the best shooters even up to 2 meters.
Shooting competitions for trained squirrels were once a common form of entertainment on the Indonesian islands.
Anglerfish
Swordfish
The Malayan splasher is not the only “artist” in the fish kingdom. Many fish have equally amazing hunting “equipment”. For example, swordfish. Her terrible weapon Even whales are afraid. What about the deep sea angler fish?
Here, in the darkness of the ocean depths, a bluish light flickers faintly. A voracious cuttlefish emerged from the darkness, rushed towards the light and... was caught. 
Anglerfish
The predator lured her with the flickering of a “flashlight” lit at the end of a long rod. The fish, of course, did not go into the forest to cut this rod. The fishing rod grew on her head, and even with glowing bait at the end.
Floating batteries
The electric eel also belongs to the gymnotid family.
A couple of these eels lived at one time in the Moscow Zoo. Visitors did not stay long around these unattractive fish. Meanwhile, the eel is a real floating battery. 
Electric eel
At will, the eel can discharge the electricity stored in the body. The voltage generated during a discharge is enormous: 300–500 volts, and sometimes more. This discharge is enough to instantly kill frogs, crayfish, and fish on which it feeds.
It is estimated that 10 thousand eels produce enough energy to illuminate a village of 500 houses. However, after about an hour, the energy supply will be depleted and the lamps will go out. Not earlier than in a day, the eels will restore their charges and will be able to illuminate the village again.
IN Lately scientists have noticed that the eel, like mormyrus, senses the approach of an enemy or prey. It turns out that the eel also has an “electric eye” at the end of its tail - a radar, just like Mormyrus. Every second it sends radio waves in all directions, which, reflected from objects, are picked up by another organ - a receiver in the eel's head.
A fish swims in the distance, a frog dives from the shore - the electric eel immediately receives a Signal about their appearance. Slowly he raises his head... and suddenly his whole body shakes as if from a blow - a powerful electric charge runs from his tail to his head, causing death in all directions.
No other living creature in the world has such a weapon. Even crocodiles avoid settling in places where there are a lot of electric eels.
frog fish
Next to the splasher, near the same islands, there is another fish in the belly.
This is how one researcher describes his meeting with her:
“For several hours now I have been making my way through dense mangroves.
All of a sudden strange creatures caught my attention.
I froze in place, trying to see these animals in their shelter. From a small lagoon five meters away from me, two bright red eyes suddenly emerged and again disappeared into the depths. I noticed two similar red bulging eyes on a tree branch. The eyes, turning in their orbits, looked first at me, then at the birds circling in the air, then to the side, to the sides. The long body of the owner of these eyes was spread out along the branch.
It was only then that I realized that in front of me was the famous mudskipper, a strange frog fish!” 
frog fish
And indeed, the fish described by the traveler jump like frogs and climb rocks and trees.
You might think that these are some kind of ancestors of land animals.
But that's not true. Common gobies of the Black and Caspian seas and our river gudgeon are their closest relatives.
Skippers, like other fish, have gills. Of course, they don't have lungs. On land, jumpers breathe directly through the damp skin of their bodies. Main body fish movements - tail. Before jumping, the jumper bends its tail and rises on its pectoral fins, which look like short arms with membranes between the fingers. Then the fish, sharply straightening its tail, pushes off from the ground and flies forward.
Often the jumper jumps and climbs onto tree branches. Jumping onto a branch, he clasps it with his pectoral fins and presses tightly with his whole body. Pushing itself with its tail, the jumper crawls along the branch higher and higher. Tree jumpers jump into the water or even onto the ground and rocks. This fish has become so adapted to life on land that it even lays its eggs on the shore in small holes dug in the silt.
Jumpers feel good in captivity. They like to gather in groups at the bottom of the aquarium. Rising on the pectoral fins and holding their heads high, they fan out their dorsal fin - blue with a black and white trim - and walk in front of each other.
Sometimes fierce fights break out between them. Opponents rush at each other, squabbling like bulldogs. They disperse to take a break, and again begin a furious squabble.
These fish got the name “toads” for their appearance, vaguely reminiscent of a toad: a wide mouth with a protruding lower jaw and round bulging eyes. This is where the similarities end, because poisonous toads- these are passively poisonous animals, and toad fish They have an active poisonous apparatus containing poisonous glands and the main weapon of active defense - spines on the gill covers (a thin hollow bone with holes for poison) and two thick spines on the front dorsal fin. Venom glands are located at the base of the dorsal fin spine and at the base of the gill spines. The poisonous glands do not lie in the groove of the spine, as in many other poisonous fish, but at the base of sharp piercing devices, the hole in which is like a duct for the poisonous secretion. These fish do not exceed 35 cm in length. The skin is bare, sometimes with small scales, covered with mucus.
Scientists highlight: Red Sea toadfish, found along the coasts of the Red Sea; Indian toadfish, living off the coast of India, Ceylon, Burma, Malaysia; Mediterranean toadfish, who has chosen the Mediterranean Sea; short toadfish, living in the coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean from the US coast to East India, and finally, reticulated toadfish, living in the Pacific Ocean in the 6 regions of Central America.
Toad fish live in the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea. In summer they prefer warm shallow water, and in winter they move to deeper places where they lead a sedentary lifestyle. Interestingly, these fish can change body color, becoming lighter or darker, depending on environment, and if you also take into account their variegated natural coloring, then such fish can be difficult to notice near stones among algae, and even more so under a layer of silt. Often these aquatic inhabitants enter the mouths of rivers and rise up against the current.
When pricked by toad fish Acute pain occurs, which spreads quite quickly from the site of the lesion, then swelling appears around the affected tissues, the skin turns red, and a burning sensation occurs. Little is known about the effect of toad fish venom on the human body, but the specialized literature does not describe deaths from injections of these fish. Nevertheless, it is better not to encounter them!
Opsanus tau) - a species of fish of the toad-like family, or batrachidae (Batrachoididae).Found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans on a muddy or sandy bottom, sometimes burying itself in it up to the eyes.
Hunts for small fish, crabs, mollusks, worms, motionlessly lying in wait for prey that dared to approach it.
The body consists mainly of a head, flattened, with a large mouth and reaches 20-35 centimeters in length.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
See what “common toadfish” is in other dictionaries:
Fight like a fish on ice, catch fish in muddy water, dumb as a fish.. Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. fish fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, little fish, live bait,... ... Synonym dictionary
Common toadfish Scientific classification Kingdom: Animals Type: Choroids ... Wikipedia
White shark In the World Ocean, as well as in enclosed and freshwater bodies of water, there are many species of fish that pose a danger to humans. They can be divided into 4 groups: biting; causing injury with thorns or thorns (fish... ... Wikipedia
- (amphibians), a class of vertebrates. The skin is bare and rich in glands. Heart with 2 atria and 1 ventricle. Amphibians were the first vertebrates to transition from an aquatic to an aquatic-terrestrial lifestyle. Larvae breathe with gills, adults with lungs. Caviar... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Batrachoidiformes), an order of ray-finned (see ray-finned FISH) fish. Unites about 50 species from one family of toad-like, or batrachidae (Batrachoididae). Known since the Miocene (see MIOCENE). The origins of this group are not entirely clear. Perhaps they... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Due to the wide variety of conditions, both on land and in the seas, and the significant extent of the territory from north to south and from west to east. animal world The USSR is very diverse. However, due to the northern location of most of the territory... ... Big Soviet encyclopedia
The “mutant fish” caught by coastal fishermen in the Livadia region turned out to be a frog fish (Aptocyclus ventricosus), quite common in the waters of southern Primorye, Vesti Primorye reports.
On the morning of September 11, the editorial office received a video of an “unknown monster” caught off the coast of Primorye on WhatsApp. The mutant fish has a second mouth in the belly area, the tail is on top of the back, eyewitnesses were horrified in their comments. None of those present on the shore had ever met such a creature, the video emphasized. However, Vesti Primorye managed to establish that the caught fish was not a monster, but common frogfish.
“Frog fish are not uncommon in Primorye,” says Sergei Pavlov, head of the department for keeping aquatic organisms of the Far Eastern seas. “But in Russia this is not commercial species. That is, they can only accidentally get into the network. New residents are quarantined in the Scientific Adaptation Building. And in the main building on display " Far Eastern seas"One frog fish is already waiting for this company. Its aquarium is opposite the algae forest. The frog fish has a rather unusual appearance. The skin resembles that of a bulldog, all in soft folds, and its surface looks like suede or velor. You want to pet it like a dog. Although out of water the fish-frog is far from presentable."
Frogfish are able to swallow water, significantly increasing in size. When the fish swells, it resembles a ball with a tail. Thanks to a special closing muscle, water does not come out of the fish, even if you press on it. The fish releases the water itself and takes on its normal appearance. Near pectoral fins The frog fish has a suction cup, with which it attaches itself to the bottom. Frogfish spend their entire lives away from land at maximum depths, and come to the shore to spawn. After spawning, the female dies, and the male remains to guard the eggs. With its suction cup it attaches itself to a stone next to the masonry and for several weeks drives fish away from it, sea urchins and stars who want to feast on developing caviar. During low tides, masonry often dries out. To prevent the eggs from dying, the males periodically water them with water, which they store in themselves.
For reference: The frogfish (Aptocyclus ventricosus) belongs to the roundfin family, representatives of which inhabit the cold waters of the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. One of the main features of the family is its disc-shaped pectoral fins, which act like suction cups. Thanks to them, frogfish can firmly attach themselves to sheer underwater rocks, becoming almost invisible. Frog fish, like many bottom and deep sea fish, lack a swim bladder and float due to their low body density. The main food of frogfish are jellyfish - jellyfish and ctenophores. Frogfish is the most major representative Pacific roundfin. Its dimensions reach 40 cm.
In January 2008, near the island of Ambon, Indonesia, divers discovered amazing fish. She bounced along the bottom like a tennis ball. This was the first time scuba divers had seen this. As it turned out later, this unusual animal turned out to be a frog fish. It should not be confused with the toad fish.
This species was first discovered 20 years ago, but due to the fact that it was incorrectly classified, it was conveniently forgotten. And so, this recent discovery forced scientists, in particular zoologists - David Hall, Rachel Arnold and Ted Pietsch - to remember this fish again. They gave it the name Histiophryne psychedelica or, more simply, psychedelic frogfish.
It belongs to the family Antennariidae (). But unlike other species, it does not have a bait rod on which to bite prey.
Coral reefs are a great place for ambush and camouflage. The frogfish is found only in areas of the Indonesian islands (Bali Island, Ambon Island). Its habitat is coral reefs, which also provide excellent hunting grounds. Histiophryne psychedelica feeds on small fish.
The entire small body of the fish is covered with numerous stripes of yellowish, brown or white. They allow her to easily disguise herself in coral reefs. Sometimes it can be very difficult to distinguish which is coral and which is fish. Each “frog” has an individual coloring, like human fingerprints.
Brown coloring 
White stripes In addition to the unique color, the eyes of the fish attract attention. They are small, but thanks to the blue border around them, it seems that they are much larger. The eyes are not located on the sides, like all fish, but in front, like in humans. Because of this unusual arrangement of her eyes, she is able to judge the distance to objects around her. This helps the fish determine the exact distance to the prey.
Little blue eyes
Our heroine has thick and flabby skin, without scales. Therefore, to protect against scratches that she might receive while swimming in the coral, her skin is covered with a layer of mucus.
The frog fish copes with potential enemies quickly and skillfully. She has 2 options for behavior when meeting them. The first is to run away (literally), the second is to scare away. She does the last option perfectly. It sticks its mouth forward, making the fish appear larger. This scares away enemies.
But the most interesting thing is the way it moves. It walks along the bottom using modified pectoral fins. In addition to this, it swells and forcefully begins to force water through its gills, using the principle of a jet engine. From the outside it looks like a kind of jumping along the ocean floor. Maybe that’s why, when the frogfish swims, it seems like it’s “high.”
