Name this fish

I caught this fish a year ago in Tampa bay it was low tide and I was getting Snails for the tank. When i lifted a piece of rock this little guy at the time was trying to eat my finger. It was about two inches long and is now about 5 inches long. I have done searches on-line but haven't found anything. I was waiting until I could snap a nice picture and today it was feeling photogenic

 

Cool looking fish! Is that in your tank?

 

That is a toadfish, a type of angler fish/scorpion fish. It looks like a Leopard Toadfish - Opsanus pardus, without a better pic, I couldnt say for sure.They also have a venomous bite! I had an orange toadfish for 3 yrs, I had him hand tame where I could feed him by hand and rub its belly untill he had a run in with the cat. He won! The cat was trying to catch another fish when the toadfish bit its paw and the slung the toadfish out. Found him the next still alive, but he perished a few days later

 

oh yeah, they will eat ANYTHING they can fit in there mouth!!! I had to put mine in a seperate tank cause it ate a 4inch tiger jawfish when the toadfish was about 6 inches long but the final straw was when I purchased a royal gramma and it swam strait to where the toadfish hid... so old toady got a new home in a 29g. untill what I said previously.

 

he definitely eats well. When I got him I thought the other fish ate him because it dissapeared in the tank. One day, about four months later, I was cleaning the tank and moving the rocks around then I seen him. He eats krill all the time. Oddly enough I have a small damsel and a clown they swim right past him and he doesnt mess with them at all. Also have a false yellow that backs uo to him and smack its face but he never snaps at the false yellow. I will try and get a better pic of him when he is out. Here is an image from the net this is definitely him. If he eats any of my fish I will take him home to the BIG OLE BLUE.


Thanks geekdafied I was stumped on this one for a while.
Raven yes that is in my tank it's about five inches long now when i got it it was very small.

 

I am almost positive that it is Leopard Toadfish - Opsanus pardus. They are awesome fishies, Wish I still had mine. It was more of a pet like a dog or cat then just a fish. The jawfish(befoire he was eaten) use to grab the toadfish by the mouth and move him around... But the toadfish finally had enough of that, haha.

 

I fed mine live fish (mollies/guppies) and I would alternate giving him ocean nutritions VHP(very high protein). Mine was a bright orange with silver and white patterns that looked like camo.

 

He is just now starting to come out into the open. He used to hide all the time but he is know coming out more often.

 

it looks like a Oyster toad from the face picture. It ever gets a hold to a finger kiss the finger bye bye. We catch them all the time out in the Chesapeake bay and thats why we keep rubbing alcohol in the boats to pour into their mouths to kill them. i have had them to dent klines side cutter's before.

 

I have a positive identification on it, its a Gulf Toadfish (Opsanus beta), here is a link with pics Toadfish_Pictures