Thalassophryne

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Batrachoidaria
Ordo: Batrachoidiformes

Familia: Batrachoididae
Subfamilia: Thalassophryninae
Genus: Thalassophryne
Species: †T. aequaliter – T. amazonica – T. cirrhosa – T. maculosa – T. megalops – T. montevidensis – T. nattereri – †T. pumilus – T. punctata
Name

Thalassophryne Günther, 1861

Type species: Thalassophryne maculosa Günther, 1861 by monotypy.
References

Günther, A. 1861. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the acanthopterygian fishes in the collection of the British Museum. 3. Gobiidae, Discoboli, Pediculati, Blenniidae, Labyrinthici, Mugilidae, Notacanthi. London. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. v. 3: i-xxv + 1-586 + i-x.
Nelson, J. S. 2006. Fishes of the World, fourth edition. John Wiley, Hoboken, 624 pp. ISBN 0-471-25031-7. ISBN 978-0-471-25031-9. Reference page.

Links

Thalassophryne – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Thalassophryne is a genus of toadfishes found in the western Atlantic Ocean with one species (T. amazonica) found in the Amazon River and some of its tributaries.

Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus:[2]

Thalassophryne amazonica Steindachner, 1876
Thalassophryne maculosa Günther, 1861 (Cano toadfish)
Thalassophryne megalops B. A. Bean & A. C. Weed, 1910
Thalassophryne montevidensis (C. Berg (es), 1893)
Thalassophryne nattereri Steindachner, 1876
Thalassophryne punctata Steindachner, 1876

Venom

Members of the genus Thalassophyne are venomous. Venom is delivered through two hollow spines on the dorsal fin and two spines on pre-opercular regions, a venomous gland is located at the base of the spines and can be erected or depressed by the fish.[3]
References

Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Thalassophryne". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). Species of Thalassophryne in FishBase. April 2012 version.

Haddad Junior, Vidal; Pardal, Pedro Pereira Oliveira; Cardoso, João Luiz Costa; Martins, Itamar Alves (August 2003). "The venomous toadfish Thalassophryne nattereri (niquim or miquim): report of 43 injuries provoked in fishermen of Salinópolis (Pará State) and Aracaju (Sergipe State), Brazil". Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. 45 (4): 221–223. doi:10.1590/S0036-46652003000400009. PMID 14502351.

Further reading
Britz, Ralf; Toledo-Piza, Mônica (September 2012). "Egg surface structure of the freshwater toadfish Thalassophryne amazonica (Teleostei: Batrachoididae) with information on its distribution and natural habitat". Neotropical Ichthyology. 10 (3): 593–599. doi:10.1590/S1679-62252012000300013.