Hardys Toadfish

Contusus brevicaudus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–29 m
Water temperature14–23 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Sarah McRae, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Contusus brevicaudus, known as the prickly toadfish, is a species of pufferfish in the family Tetraodontidae. It is known only from Australia, ranging from Western Australia to New South Wales, including Tasmania. It is a nocturnal species that inhabits estuaries and marine waters and is usually seen at depths of less than 20 m (66 ft). It reaches 25 cm in total length.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Contusus brevicaudus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 31 records
February: 27 records
March: 49 records
April: 60 records
May: 25 records
June: 22 records
July: 26 records
August: 15 records
September: 20 records
October: 46 records
November: 34 records
December: 20 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–29 m · Deepest record: 30 m

0–10 m: 20 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 5 records
30–40 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–23 °C

14–16 °C: 95 records
16–18 °C: 25 records
18–20 °C: 82 records
20–22 °C: 9 records
22–24 °C: 1 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Hardys Toadfish, Prickly Pufferfish, Prickly Toadfish

Similar species

Barred Toadfish
Contusus richei
Bristly puffer
Arothron hispidus
Guineafowl puffer
Arothron meleagris
Hawaiian Spotted Toby
Canthigaster jactator
Silverstripe blaasop
Lagocephalus sceleratus
evileye blaasop
Amblyrhynchote honckenii

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
355 open-data records from 1918 to 2020.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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