Smooth Toadfish, Tetractenos glaber (Fréminville 1813)

Other Names: Smooth Toado

A Smooth Toadfish, Tetractenos glaber, in Wollongong Harbour, New South Wales, July 2009. Source: Sascha Schultz / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A small pale yellowish to greenish pufferfish, with dark brown irregular spots and blotches overlain with four darker bands and a white belly. The spots elongate and become fewer on the lower sides. The Smooth Toadfish has a moderately long and robust body covered in minute embedded spines, with a distinct skin-fold along the lower sides, and the body

The Smooth Toadfish is often abundant in bays and estuaries throughout southeastern Australia. Pufferfishes (toadfish) are very poisonous and this species should not be eaten - or fed to pets.

Video of a school of Smooth Toadfish at West Beach, Croajingolong National Park, East Gippsland, Victoria.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Tetractenos glaber in Fishes of Australia, accessed 17 Sep 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/878

Smooth Toadfish, Tetractenos glaber (Fréminville 1813)

More Info

Distribution	Endemic to temperate waters of southeastern Australia, from Moreton Bay, Queensland, to Spencer Gulf, South Australia and around Tasmania. Smooth Toadfish are sometimes locally abundant, and inhabit mangroves, seagrass beds, sand flats, and muddy areas in shallow bays and estuaries, at depths of 0-20 m (mostly above 5 m). The Smooth Toadfish also occasionally enters freshwater above normal tidal influence.
Features	Dorsal fin 9-11; Anal fin 7-9; Caudal fin 11; Pectoral fin 15-18. Body moderately long, robust, tapering to a slender caudal peduncle, with a distinct skinfold present along lower sides; body covered in minute spines.
Size	To 16 cm.
Colour	Pale yellowish to greenish above, white below, tail often reddish, iris red. Top and sides with dark brown irregular spots of varying sizes, overlain with four darker bands over the back and sides. Spots elongate and become fewer on the lower sides.
Feeding	Feeds mostly on benthic molluscs (mussels), crustaceans (especially crabs) and polychaete worms.
Similar Species	Differs from the Common Toadfish, Tetractenos hamiltoni, in skin texture and coloration. The Smooth Toadfish has larger spots and blotches, and minute spines embedded in the skin giving it a smooth feel, hence the common name. The Common Toadfish is covered in small prickles.
Species Citation	Tetrodon glaber Fréminville, 1813, Nouv. Bull. Sci. 3(67): 251, pl. 4(4). Type locality: Adventure Bay, Tasmania
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Smooth Toadfish, Tetractenos glaber (Fréminville 1813)

References

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Bibron, G. 1855. in Duméril, A.H.A. Note sur un travail inédit de Bibron relatif aux poissons Plectognathes Gymnodontes (Diodons et Tétrodons). Revue et Magasin de Zoologie (Paris) 2 8: 274-282 (described as Aphanacanthe reticulatus)

Booth, D.J. & Schultz, D.L. 1999. Seasonal ecology, condition and reproductive patterns of the smooth toadfish Tetractenos glaber (Freminville) in the Hawkesbury estuarine system, Australia. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 121: 71-84. See ref at BHL

Connolly, R. 2009. Fish on Australian saltmarshes. pp. 131-149, in Saintilan, N. (ed.) Australian Saltmarsh Ecology. CSIRO publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, AU.

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Fréminville, M. 1813. Description de quelques nouvelles espèces des Poissons de l'ordre des Branchiosteges. Nouveau Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomatique de Paris 3(67): 249-253.

Green, S.L. 1984. Ultrastructure and innervation of the swimbladder of Tetractenos glaber (Tetraodontidae). Cell and Tissue Research 237(2): 277-284. Abstract

Halstead, B.W. 1967. Poisonous and Venomous Marine Animals of the World. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office Vol. 2 1070 pp. (as Amblyrhynchotes glaber)

Hardy, G.S. 1983. Revision of Australian species of Torquigener Whitley (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae), and two new generic names for Australian puffer fishes. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 13(1/2): 1-48 figs 1-18

Hardy, G.S. 1994. Family Tetraodontidae. pp. 902-912, figs 795-804 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.

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Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.

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Last, P.R., Scott, E.O.G. & Talbot, F.H. 1983. Fishes of Tasmania. Hobart : Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority 563 pp. figs. (as Torquigener glaber)

Matsuura, K. 2008. Families Ostraciidae, Tetraodontidae. pp. 842-856 in Gomon. M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.

Regan, C.T. 1909. Descriptions of new marine fishes from Australia and the Pacific. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 4(51): 438-440 (described as Spheroides liosomus)

Shao, K., Liu, M., Larson, H., Harwell, H., Leis, J.L. & Matsuura, K. 2014. Tetractenos glaber . The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T193661A2255857. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T193661A2255857.en. Downloaded on 04 February 2020.

Smith, T.M, Hindell, J.S., Jenkins, G.P., Connolly, R.N. & Keo, M.J. 2011. Edge effects in patchy seagrass landscapes: The role of predation in determining fish distribution. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 399(1): 8-16.

Thomson, J.M. 1978. A Field Guide to the Common Sea & Estuary Fishes of Non-tropical Australia. Sydney : Collins 144 pp. (as Spheroides glaber)

Whitley, G.P. 1953. Toadfish poisoning. Australian Museum Magazine 11(2): 60-65 (as Sphaeroides glaber & Sphaeroides liosomus)