---
title: "Common Toadfish"
description: "Tetractenos hamiltoni — Fish. The common toadfish (Tetractenos hamiltoni), also known as the common toado, toadfish or toado, (formerly classified as Tetrodon hamiltoni or Torquigener hamiltoni) is a species of fish in the family Tetraodontidae of order Tetraodontiformes, found along Australia's eastern coast, from northern Queensland to Flinders Island, and around Lord Howe Island, as well as in New Zealand waters."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/common-toadfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Common Toadfish

> Tetractenos hamiltoni — Fish. The common toadfish (Tetractenos hamiltoni), also known as the common toado, toadfish or toado, (formerly classified as Tetrodon hamiltoni or Torquigener hamiltoni) is a species of fish in the family Tetraodontidae of order Tetraodontiformes, found along Australia's eastern coast, from northern Queensland to Flinders Island, and around Lord Howe Island, as well as in New Zealand waters.

- Scientific name: *Tetractenos hamiltoni*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 1523
- Wikidata: [Q2680881](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2680881)
- iNaturalist taxon: [349323](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/349323)

## Names

- en: Common Toadfish

## Countries with the most observations

AU (1347)

## Summary

The common toadfish (Tetractenos hamiltoni), also known as the common toado, toadfish or toado, (formerly classified as Tetrodon hamiltoni or Torquigener hamiltoni) is a species of fish in the family Tetraodontidae of order Tetraodontiformes, found along Australia's eastern coast, from northern Queensland to Flinders Island, and around Lord Howe Island, as well as in New Zealand waters. It often buries itself in sand with only its eyes exposed.
The fish is sandy to whitish in colour, with small brown spots over most of the back and upper sides, and brown bars and blotches beneath. It has a maximum length of 14 centimetres…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_toadfish

## Photo

![Common Toadfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/common-toadfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: Richard Fuller · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8771038

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/common-toadfish?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).