Halobatrachus didactylus, Lusitanian toadfish : fisheries

Halobatrachus didactylus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Lusitanian toadfish
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Halobatrachus didactylus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Halobatrachus didactylus (Lusitanian toadfish)
Halobatrachus didactylus
Picture by Wirtz, P.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Batrachoidiformes (Toadfishes) > Batrachoididae (Toadfishes) > Halophryninae
Etymology: Halobatrachus: Greek, als, alis = salt + Greek, batrachos = frog (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Bloch & Schneider.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 10 - 50 m (Ref. 2683). Subtropical; 45°N - 4°N, 18°W - 17°E

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: southern Bay of Biscay to Ghana, including the western Mediterranean. Reported from the Gambia River (Ref. 28587).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26999); common length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 19 - 21. Caudal fin rounded (Ref.5377).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Sedentary species which occurs on soft sand or mud, often partly buried or concealed in rock crevices, solitary in shallow water. Feeds on crustaceans, mollusks and small fishes (Ref. 7405). The female lays eggs which are large enough and which are turned over to the males who guard them (Ref. 5377). A species that is not venomous (Dr. Andread Kunznmann, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), pers. communication 10/2021).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Collette, Bruce B. | Collaborators

Bauchot, M.-L., 1987. Poissons osseux. p. 891-1421. In W. Fischer, M.L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (eds.) Fiches FAO d'identification pour les besoins de la pêche. (rev. 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de pêche 37. Vol. II. Commission des Communautés Européennes and FAO, Rome. (Ref. 3397)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 10 July 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings search; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings search; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.01175 (0.00852 - 0.01620), b=3.05 (2.96 - 3.14), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		4.0   ±0.64 se; based on food items.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Moderate to high vulnerability (54 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability
(Ref. 125649) 		Moderate vulnerability (39 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Unknown.
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 65.9 [35.0, 131.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.966 [0.578, 1.659] mg/100g; Protein = 18.6 [17.6, 19.6] %; Omega3 = 0.399 [0.239, 0.671] g/100g; Selenium = 23.4 [12.6, 50.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 15.9 [5.2, 48.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.709 [0.531, 0.999] mg/100g (wet weight);