Batrachoides gilberti

Common Name

Large-eye Toadfish

Year Described

Meek & Hildebrand, 1928

Identification

Dorsal Fin: III, 24-26
Anal Fin: 22-23
Pectoral Fin: 20-21
Pelvic Fin: I, 2
Lateral Line: 36-45 upper, 33-41 lower
Vertebrae: 34-35

Head flattened with small eyes (4-7% SL). Two subopercular spines. Two opercular spines. No venom glands. Body covered in tiny scales. Scales barely extend anteriorly past rear of head. Pectoral fin glands number 0-8.

Color

Body medium brown to yellowish brown. Most of body and head heavily mottled with lighter and darker brown. Faint eyebands often present. Fins heavily mottled or striped with darker brown.

Size

Maximum size to 230mm SL.

Habitat

Shallow inshore waters to almost freshwater.

Range

The Yucatan Peninsula to Panama.

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.

Collette, B.B. & J.L. Russo. 1981. A revision of the scaly toadfishes, genus Batrachoides, with descriptions of two new species from the eastern Pacific. Bulletin of Marine Science v. 31 (no. 2): 197-233.