BATRACHOIDIFORMES / BATRACHOIDIDAEBATRACHOIDIFORMES – toadfishes
Batrachoidiformes comprises only a single family Batrachoididae.
The family includes 3 subfamilies, viz., Batrachoidinae, Porichthyinae, and Thalassophryninae; these subfamilies, except for theBatrachoidinae, are known only from the Americas. In Western
Central Pacific, 7 species of the Batrachoidinae are known(Greenfield, 1999).

Most of the toadfishes of the Batrachoidinae are similarlooking, drab-colored fishes, having a broad and depressedhead with numerous short barbel-like dermal processes, pelvic
fins in front of the pectoral-fin base, 3 strong spines on the firstdorsal fin, and no scales on the body (some have small cycloidscales).

A

Allenbatrachus grunniens (Linnaeus, 1758)
Family: Batrachoididae (FC: 226)
Size: 19.1 cm SL (Greenfield, 1999: 2001).

tip of anterior orbital
cirrus pointed (vs.
with 4 or morerounded tips in
A. reticulatus)

Distribution: Mekong Basin in Vietnam (and ?Cambodia);
Indo-West Pacific.

310

B
3 strong dorsal-fin spines

26–30 lower lateral-line poresC
16–17 anal-fin rays
no pore at upper
part of inner side ofpectoral-fin base (seealso Batrachomoeus
trispinosus, next page)C inner side of pectoral finof the head (vs. absent), 14–15 anal-fin rays (vs. 16–17), and 33–
37 lower lateral-line pores (vs. 23–30) (Greenfield, 1997, 1999).

A and D) CTU-P 5385 (photo: KS); B and C) CTU-P 1537 (photo: LXT)

Notes: A medium-sized species of toadfishes, found in brackish
estuaries and the adjacent freshwater areas of large rivers; itappears to be the most common toadfish species in the Mekong.
At least 3 species of toadfishes are known from the Mekong(e.g., Rainboth et al., 2012: 75): Allenbatrachus grunniens, A.
reticulatus, and Batrachomoeus trispinosus. Allenbatrachus resembles Batrachomoeus in general appearance, but lacks a pore at
the upper part of the pectoral-fin axil (inner side of the pectoralfin base) (vs. a pore is present in Batrachomoeus). Although we
failed to confirm Allenbatrachus reticulatus during our fieldsurveys in this region in 2007–2013, A. reticulatus can be distinguished from the congener A. grunniens by having blunt androunded teeth on the jaws (vs. teeth are pointed in A. grunniens)and an anterior orbital cirrus with 4 or more rounded tips (vs. tippointed) (Greenfield, 1997, 1999).
Rainboth (1996b: 170) also recorded the other toadfish Halophryne diemensis from the Mekong, and noted, "fairly common in
the tidally influenced part of the lower Mekong." His record of H.
diemensis needs confirmation; actually, latter he did not include
the record of H. diemensis in the annotated list on fishes of the"Greater Mekong Ecosystem" (Rainboth et al., 2012). Halophryne
diemensis is similar to fishes of Allenbatrachus in having no poreat the inner side of the pectoral-fin axil, but has non-projecting
lower jaw (vs. slightly projecting beyond the upper jaw in Allenbatrachus), distinct longitudinal skin ridges on the dorsal surface

BATRACHOIDIDAE
A

Batrachomoeus trispinosus (Günther, 1861)

B

Family: Batrachoididae (FC: 226)
Distribution: Mekong Basin in Vietnam (and ?Cambodia);
Western Pacific.
Notes: A medium-sized species of toadfish, found in reefs andbrackish estuaries; also commonly seen in fish tanks of seafoodrestaurants in Vietnam and Cambodia. The photographed specimens shown here were taken from the fish tank of a restaurantin Cần Thơ, Vietnam.
Batrachomoeus trispinosus is readily distinguished fromthe other toadfishes in the Mekong by having a small pore at
the upper part of pectoral-fin axil (inner side of pectoral-finbase) (see photo E). See also similar-looking, common toadfish
Allenbatrachus grunniens, left page.

3 strong dorsal-fin spines

Ca small pore (shownas red circle) at upper
part of inner side ofpectoral-fin basepectoral and caudal fins witha distinct dark-barred patternDE

17–20 anal-fin rays
inner side of pectoral fin

311A and D) CTU-P 4088 [photo: KS (A) and LXT (D)]; B, C, and E) CTU-P 4087 [photo: LXT (B and C) and KS (E)]

Size: 26.2 cm SL (Greenfield, 1999: 2002).