Orange-spotted toadfish

How it lives

Lives in small loose groups on shallow sand flats and in estuaries, recorded at about 1 to 22 m. By day it often sleeps buried under the sand with only its eyes showing. In the Mediterranean it lives about 4 years. Females lay many eggs: an average adult female held about 1,250 eggs per gram of body weight. It feeds through the day and can be curious about divers.

Where it goes

A small bottom dweller that lives in loose groups on sandy flats. The sources I opened give no migration data. By day it often buries itself in the sand with only its eyes showing.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Native to the Indian and western Pacific oceans, from East and South Africa east to Samoa and north to southern Japan, and rated Least Concern by the IUCN (2011) within its native range. In the Eastern Mediterranean it is an invasive species. A 2023 study treats the fish known there as Torquigener flavimaculosus as the same species and sampled it at Finike and Fethiye in Turkey and in Cyprus. The authors recommend listing it as a priority invasive species to monitor. No population count is given.