The Splendid Toadfish
A species entirely endemic to the island of Cozumel.
The Splendid Toadfish
(Sanopus splendidus), also known as the coral toadfish, is one of the
most exciting peculiarities of Cozumel
marine life.
It is 10-15cm long and, like the other members of the
toadfish family, its head is wide, flattened and with barbels, but its
distinctive feature are the vibrant colors: all of its eight fins, with the
exception of the pelvic ones, are edged in a bright yellow coloring. The
Splendid Toadfish also has a yellow mouth, while the head and the body are
dark, attractively patterned in purple, with stripes. As it is a
bottom-dwelling species, its eyes are located on the top of its head that looks
directly upwards (there is mostly no need for a horizontal vision), and its
wide jaws are filled with small and sharp teeth.
Despite its brilliant coloring, the Splendid Toadfish is a
shy creature and is pretty difficult to coax: you can generally find it under
or around crevices and coral heads in clear water, at a depth of about 10-25m. It
is at night that the toadfish comes out, since it’s a nocturnal hunter: it
feeds on small fish, snails and polychaete worms. So night dives are a good time to spot it.
The Splendid Toadfish is entirely endemic to the small
island of Cozumel, off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, and the best
place to look for it is on the outer side of shallow reefs like Paradise Reef.
However, the species is not widespread and is classified as
Vulnerable (VU) by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/19899/0).
That is to say that, although it is not Endangered, it is
facing a high risk of extinction in the medium-term future: even a small-scale
local environment disturbance could strongly affect its population. Despite the
protected status, nowadays the Splendid Toadfish remain under the threat of the
uncontrolled urban growth related to the tourist industry, but efforts are
being made to manage this risk.
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