Common Name
Bocon Toadfish
Year Described
Valenciennes, 1837
Identification
Dorsal Fin: III, 29
Anal Fin: 23-25
Pectoral Fin: 20-23
Pelvic Fin: I, 2
Lateral Line: 32-40 upper, 27-34 lower
Vertebrae: 36-38
Glands not present between radials of pectoral fin. No axillary pore. Two opercular spines. Barbels short and branched. A plumose tentacle over orbits. No venom glands. Two lateral lines. No scales on body.
Color
Variable between uniformly medium brown and mottled with pale and brown mottling. Often with a reddish to orange hue. Often freckled with small spots or irregular dark bars or white rosettes. A dark bar radiating from rear of orbit and across top of head. Fins with alternating bands of yellowish and dark brown. Belly whitish.
Size
Maximum size to 340mm SL.
Habitat
Shallow coastal waters or lagoons. Often found intertidally.
Range
Panama to Brazil
References
Collette, B.B. 2002. Batrachoididae (pp 1026-1042). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae-Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5.
Greenfield, D.W., R. Winterbottom and B.B. Collette, 2008. Review of the toadfish genera (Teleostei: Batrachoididae). Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. (Series 4), 59(15):665-710.
Other Notes
Amphichthys hildebrandi (Breder, 1925) is a junior synonym. Amphichthys rubigenis (Swainson, 1839) was described from Brazil, but there is no information available on the current status of this taxa. Greenfield et al. (2008) show only A. cryptocentrus as valid, but Fishbase still has a page for A. rubigenis. Given the range of A. cryptocentrus, the latter name may refer to the same species.