Dogfish?

jbzella

jbzella

New Member
We fish a lot in port aransas, texas, and we always catch these boogers... They are nasty looking and the birds will not touch them, so obviously they have some sort of sting or venom. We call them dogfish, but I have tried to research them and can find nothing on them. Hopefully someone can tell me their real name and a little bit about them please!

 
S

saxman

Guest
The fish in question isn't a dogfish, which s actually the common name for certain shark species...it's a toadfish, probably Opsanus tau since it came from the Gulf of Mexico. They are indeed mildly venomous, have large mouths, and grow to about 17" or so. They are also called "oyster toadfish", and sometimes come in an orange color morph.
They make nice, but sedentary aquarium fish, and like other ambush predators, you'll need to mind the size differential between this fish and any potential tankmates.
 
txgirl36

txgirl36

New Member
We, my friend and I, each caught one on Memorial Day wkend 05-25-13 at Texas City Dike. Thank goodness for our fishing neighbor near us and yelled out "Don't touch it". He so much saved us from an ER visit. He said it was poisonous and as we posted it on facebook, I also received responses of the same. It is an ugly dark color fish and don't DO NOT try to take it off the hook with your hands. It is poisonous around the facial area. Once again, we are greatful of the man fishing next to us.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
That is "Opsanus Tau". I did research with them years ago. They are hardy, pretty difficult to kill, actually. They are not venomous, but are poisonous. They produce a toxin, tetradotoxin, which impairs nerve-nerve communication. You can only get poisoned by consuming the flesh or the poison gland fo the fish. I have handled many of these bare handed, and, while my children may maintain that I suffered some brain damage as a result, as far as I can tell, I'm OK;)
 
F

Frankie Pannell

New Member
geridoc said:
That is "Opsanus Tau". I did research with them years ago. They are hardy, pretty difficult to kill, actually. They are not venomous, but are poisonous. They produce a toxin, tetradotoxin, which impairs nerve-nerve communication. You can only get poisoned by consuming the flesh or the poison gland fo the fish. I have handled many of these bare handed, and, while my children may maintain that I suffered some brain damage as a result, as far as I can tell, I'm OK;)
Click to expand...
It is Actually Opsanus beta and is not poisonous the Tau or Oyster Toadfish may be but the Beta which live in the Gulf of Mexico are not.
 
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