FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 337 
the Fish Hawk was made during the day or at night. The cusk eel, however, is not known to be 
abundant anywhere, and it probably is rather uncommon in Cheaspeake Bay. 
Habitat . — New York to Texas; along sandy shores. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous record: Cape Charles city, Va. ( b ) Specimens in col- 
lection: Cape Charles, off Cape Charles Light, and Lynnhaven Roads, Va. 
Family LXXXV. — BATRACHQIDID/E. The toadfishes 
Body robust, depressed anteriorly, compressed posteriorly; mouth large; teeth strong; gill 
openings chiefly lateral, the membranes united to the isthmus; scales present or wanting; air bladder 
present; dorsal fins 2, the first with two or three low spines; second dorsal and anal long, similar; 
caudal fin round and free from the dorsal and anal; ventral fins large, jugular; pectoral fins broad. 
A single genus and species comes within the scope of the present work. 
14S. Genus OPSANUS Rafinesque. Toadfishes 
Body robust, notably depressed anteriorly, compressed posteriorly; head large, with numerous 
fleshy flaps; mouth very broad; teeth very strong, blunt, mostly in a single series, present on jaws, 
vomer, and palatines; opercle with two partly concealed spines; skin scaleless, wrinkled; lateral line 
obscure; three dorsal spines; axil of pectoral with a large foramen. 
189. Opsanus tau (Linnaeus). Toadfish. 
Gadus tau Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. XII, 1766, p. 440; Carolina. 
Batrachus tau Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 98; ed. II, p. 82; Bean, 1891, p. 86; Smith, 1892, p. 72. 
Opsanus tau Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2315; Smith and Bean, 1899, p. 187; Everinann and Hildebrand, 1910, p. 163; 
Fowler, 1912, p. 59. 
Head 2.65 to 3.05; depth 3.55 to 4.7; D. III-26 or 27; A. 21 or 22. Body robust, anteriorly 
very broad, depressed (especially in adult), posteriorly compressed; head very large and broad; 
snout short and broad, 3.9 to 5 in head; eye 3.45 to 4.95; interorbital (bone) 6.55 to 12.85; mouth 
large and broad; lower jaw projecting; maxillary reaching well beyond eye, 1.55 to 2.15 in head; 
teeth strong, blunt, in a single series laterally in the jaws, anteriorly forming more or less of a band; 
a row of somewhat stronger teeth on vomer and palatines; opercle with three strong spines; skin 
smooth; barbels or tentacles present on head, about the mouth, and sometimes on sides of body; 
these enlarged over the eyes and on lower jaw; first dorsal with three short spines, enveloped in 
skin; second dorsal long and of about uniform height; caudal fin round; anal fin long, the rays 
distally more or less free; ventral fins rather small, the anterior rays enveloped in heavy skin; 
pectoral fins broad, fan-shaped, 1.4 to 1.65 in head. 
Color in alcohol variable, grayish to brownish above, pale underneath, with profuse markings 
of darker and lighter color on the sides; fins all with dark and pale bars. Several adult toadfish 
observed in an aquarium at Woods Hole, Mass., were yellowish brown, mottled with darker brown 
on body and fins. The dark markings on dorsal and anal were in the form of irregular, oblique 
bars, and on the caudal in transverse bars. The outer half of pectorals was marked with concentric 
bars, the basal part being mottled like the body. This color pattern is typical (at least, of all those 
that we have seen from various localities between Maine and Florida) of the toadfish throughout 
its range. 
Numerous specimens, ranging in length from 30 to 320 millimeters (lJds to 12^ inches), were 
preserved. Its scaleless skin, broad head with numerous fleshy fringes, its long, soft dorsal fin, and 
its fleshy ventral fins, placed under the throat, serve well to distinguish this fish from all others 
occurring in Chesapeake Bay. 
The toadfish is omnivorous. The principal food, however, appears to consist of crustaceans. 
Among a lot of 31 individuals, 25 had either fed on crustaceans, in combination with mollusks, 
or on fish. Small crabs among the crustaceans appeared most frequently in the food, although 
shrimp (and in the smaller individuals, amphipods) and isopods also were present. Almost any 
kind of offal is eaten, and in places where garbage is thrown overboard toadfish are almost always 
present in comparatively large numbers. 
