Relevant synonyms None Misidentification Chaunax pictus Meristic formula D1, 3; D2, 11-12; A, 5-7; P, 13-15; V, I+4  photo : Sergio Ragonese

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body balloon-shaped and inflatable; loose skin with small spinelike scales. Mouth large, nearly vertical, with numerous small villiform teeth. Gill opening pore-shaped and located above and behind pectoral fin base. Dorsal spinous portion with three isolated spines on head, the first (illicium) short and modified into an angling apparatus, the other two spines small and embedded beneath skin. Pectoral fins limb-like, resembling elbow, their unbranched rays ending in jointed fleshy tips. Lateral line within open canals, especially noticeable on head. color : orange-rosy with golden spots on head and body; fins pink. size : 10-30 cm (max. 40 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Shape and color distinguish this species from all other Mediterranean fish. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Feeds on fish and invertebrates, which are attracted to the angling apparatus. Eggs distributed in single, floating gelatinous mass. habitat : deep substrates of continental shelf and slope.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Sicily Strait, 1997. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : western and eastern Atlantic. Mediterranean : two records, a few years apart from the same area of Sicily Strait, the first one misidentified as C. pictus (Ragonese and Giusto, 1997; Ragonese et al., 2001). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Rare. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via Gibraltar. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Ragonese S. and Giusto G.B., 1997. Chaunax pictus Lowe 1846 - first record of the family Chaunacidae in the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Fish Biology, 51: 1063-1065. Ragonese S., Giusto G.B. and Caruso J. H., 2001. Second record of the toadfish Chaunax suttkusi Caruso, 1989 in the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Fish Biology, 58: 291-294. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: March 2001 ©ciesm 2002