DD

It is referred to as both toadfish and oysterfish.

mbw7673 Loc: algonquin, illinois

when that ugly fish was born, the doctor slapped it's mother.

smitty7

Florida we call it a Sea Robin !

DD

My mother-in-law wasn't that good looking.

Judge32 Loc: Vidalia, Ga. 30474

My Mother-in-law was meaner and more dangerous, however she was good at spotting fish from her broom!

DD

I wish I had known you when my mother-in-law was living, you could have told me where to buy one of those brooms. Sort of like a nasty drone that can't talk.

hhager23 Loc: Hatteras NC

On the Chesapeake we call them oyster toads. In addition to their good looks they are also covered in a toxic slime - which I guess explains why seagulls won't eat them but they are a delicacy in some asian countries...

Lewis63

Same here

will Loc: Tampa, Florida

I've always known it to be a Toadfish . . . (slimy lil' bastards...LOL)

hhager23 Loc: Hatteras NC

True story about how valued oyster toads are where I grew up on the York River…

One day John and Jay were out fishing – John in one end of the boat and Jay in the other. John was catching fish but Jay had not gotten a bite.

Jay said “John, you must be in a better spot. Why don’t we switch?” So they switched places.
Still, John was catching fish and Jay had nary a bite.

Jay said “John, you must be using the good fishing rod. Let me try that one.” So they swapped rods.

Now Jay was using the rod John had been using and fishing in the spot John had been fishing and he still had not gotten a bite. John however was still catching fish now using Jay’s old rod in the very same spot Jay had been.

Let’s just say Jay was getting a little frustrated. After several more hours in the hot sun, Jay finally got a bite!

It was an oyster toad.

Jay was so mad that he told John to take the boat over to the edge of one of the local nets and spiked the oyster toad on top of a nearby net pole, leaving his carcass perched in the river for the seagulls.

Six months later they went back to that spot of the oyster toad incident.

The oyster toad was still there, dried but whole, on top of the net pole.

NOTHING had touched it.

Bonasa Loc: Coastal NC (Hampstead)

Toadfish are delicious! The flesh holds together in chowders and is the ideal fish for paella. In NC we only have them mostly a few miles offshore and mostly in the cooler months. Some species sit on the bottom with their mouths open and wiggle their tongues. In swims a small fish, and CHOMP. In some places they are called anglerfish for that reason. Considered a delicacy in Spain, where they are called "rape," pronounced "RAH PAY."

hhager23 Loc: Hatteras NC

Angler fish are not the same thing as oyster toads.

Bonasa Loc: Coastal NC (Hampstead)

Correct, the Oyster toad is just one species, Opsanus tau. There are 209 other species in this Order, scattered all over the world's oceans. Before the disappearance of grey trout from our waters (Onslow Bay, NC) we used to catch another of those species, actually a Goosefish, which in these parts is called in the vernacular Toadfish, Monkfish, or Anglerfish, In the Peterson guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes, it is classified as Lophius amercanus, and has the forwardmost dorsal spine "modified into a 'fishing pole' with lure. ... Carnivorous, attracting prey with lure and then engulfing it with a sudden lunge." (p. 86)