|
The smooth toadfish (''Tetractenos glaber'') is a species of fish in the pufferfish family Tetraodontidae. It is native to shallow coastal and estuarine waters of southeastern Australia, where it is widespread and abundant. French naturalist Christophe-Paulin de La Poix de Fréminville described the species in 1813, though early records confused it with its close relative, the common toadfish (''T. hamiltonii''). The two are the only members of the genus ''Tetractenos'' after going through several taxonomic changes since discovery. Up to long with distinctive leopard-like dark markings on its upperparts, it has a rounded front and tapers to a narrow tail at the back. Unlike most of its relatives, it does not have prominent spines on its body. Like other pufferfish, it can inflate itself with water or air. It forages for its preferred foods—molluscs and crustaceans—in sand and mud of the bottom sediment. Often an unwanted catch by anglers, the smooth toadfish is highly poisonous because of the tetrodotoxin present in its body, and eating it may result in death. ==Taxonomy== French naturalist Christophe-Paulin de La Poix de Fréminville described the smooth toadfish in 1813 as ''Tetrodon glaber'', based on a specimen collected in Adventure Bay in southeastern Tasmania by Claude Riche. This holotype was then catalogued in the collection of French naturalist Alexandre Brongniart, but was subsequently lost; upon his death, Brongniart's collection was bequeathed to the Paris Museum and the specimen did not appear there nor at any other institution. The specific name ''glaber'' is from the Latin adjective ''glăber'', meaning "bald". Fréminville's description was overlooked by many subsequent authorities, resulting in the confusion of this species with the closely related common toadfish (''Tetractenos hamiltoni''); it is unclear with many records which species was being referred to, though those from Victoria and Tasmania belong to this species.〔 This issue in the scientific literature was not fully resolved until 1983.〔 French naturalist Auguste Duméril erected a new genus in publishing the species as ''Aphanacanthe reticulatus'' in 1855 from a description authored by his countryman Gabriel Bibron, who had died suddenly,〔 Later Latinised to ''Aphanacanthus'', it was linked to a presumed type species ''Tetrodon reticulatus'', from a manuscript by Bibron. In 1959, Yseult Le Danois equated this species name to ''Tetractenos hamiltoni'', but Australian biologist Graham Hardy later reviewed the specimens labelled as ''T. hamiltoni'' and found that they should be assigned to ''T. glaber''.〔 The genus name ''Aphanacanthe''—not ''Aphanacanthus'', as the original spelling takes priority—would have taken precedence over the current genus name ''Tetractenos''. However, it is a ''nomen nudum'' as it does not provide enough detail or information to diagnose or properly describe the species, since Duméril had only written a (French) translation of the genus name—αφανης ''qui nе parait pas'', ἃκανθα, ''épine'' ("with no thorns").〔 British ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan described ''Spheroides liosomus'' in 1909 from specimens collected in Melbourne, Hobart, Flinders Island and Port Phillip. He noted its lack of spines compared with specimens of ''Tetrodon hamiltonii'', and hence argued that it was a distinct and separate species. Australian biologist Gilbert Whitley equated Regan's description with Fréminville's original naming and gave it the combination ''Spheroides glaber'' in 1955, and later ''Gastrophysus glaber'' in 1964. The smooth toadfish was assigned to the genera ''Tetrodon'' (now ''Tetraodon'') and ''Sphaeroides'', both of which became wastebasket taxa.〔 The smooth toadfish was assigned to several other genera after it became clear that it fell outside a more restricted definition of ''Tetr(a)odon'',〔 including ''Torquigener''. Recognising that the smooth and common toadfish were distinct enough from other species to warrant their own genus and that no valid genus name existed, Hardy reassigned the two species to the new genus ''Tetractenos'' in 1983.〔 Common names include smooth toadfish, smooth toado, slimey toadfish or smooth blowie. Along with related toadfish species, the smooth toadfish is known in Australia as a "toadie". ''Gaguni'' is a Tharawal name for toadfish in the Sydney region, the word recorded by William Dawes as ''ca-gone'' in his 1791 diaries of the Sydney language. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「smooth toadfish」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|