---
title: "Oyster Toadfish"
description: "Opsanus tau — Fish. The oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau), also known as the oyster toad, ugly toad, oyster cracker, oyster catcher, and bar dog, is a Northwest Atlantic species of fish of the family Batrachoididae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/oyster-toadfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Oyster Toadfish

> Opsanus tau — Fish. The oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau), also known as the oyster toad, ugly toad, oyster cracker, oyster catcher, and bar dog, is a Northwest Atlantic species of fish of the family Batrachoididae.

- Scientific name: *Opsanus tau*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 1630
- Wikidata: [Q1524360](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1524360)
- iNaturalist taxon: [51372](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/51372)

## Names

- en: Oyster Toadfish
- de: Austernfisch
- es: Sapo ostión
- fr: Crapaud huître
- pl: Tau

## Countries with the most observations

US (1439)

## Summary

The oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau), also known as the oyster toad, ugly toad, oyster cracker, oyster catcher, and bar dog, is a Northwest Atlantic species of fish of the family Batrachoididae. The maximum length of this toadfish is 43.2 cm (17 in), but they infrequently surpass 38 cm (15 in). The record size for this species is 19.2 inches (48.76 cm). They are generally yellowish with a pattern of brown oblique bars.  The species can live in poor conditions and needs little food to live. They can be found near the shore from Maine to Florida.
In 1998, NASA sent the oyster toadfish into space to investigate the effects…

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

## Photo

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

Photo: Ira Gershenhorn · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61534240

## Machine access

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