beta, Batrachus tau Goode [G. B.] & Bean [T. H.] (ex Günther) 1880:334 [Proceedings of the United States National Museum v. 2 (no. 98); ref. 18135] Off Institute of Marine Science dock, Aransas Pass, Port Aransas, Aransas County, Texas, U.S.A. Holotype: UMMZ 167103. Paratypes: USNM 746 (2), 5149 (now 3, orig. 1), 21477 (1), 23541 (1); UMMZ 167104 (3). Appeared first in Günther 1861:167 [ref. 1964] with the symbol beta for the southern variety; regarded as non-Latinized and unavailable. Appeared in Goode & Bean as above as "Batrachus tau, Linnaeus, subsp. beta, Günther. •Valid as Opsanus beta (Goode & Bean 1880) -- (Robins & Ray 1986:84 [ref. 23100], Boschung 1992:77 [ref. 23239], Gamboa Pérez 1992:330 [ref. 38704], McEachran & Fechhelm 1998:810 [ref. 23897], Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999:172 [ref. 24550], Schmitter-Soto et al. 2000:152 [ref. 27754], Collette 2001:3 [ref. 25398], Collette 2003:1037 [ref. 26981], Smith et al. 2003:12 [ref. 27621], Nelson et al. 2004:95 [ref. 27807], Miller 2006:179 [ref. 28615], Greenfield et al. 2008:676 [ref. 30046], García-Hernández et al. 2009:92 [ref. 37265], Lasso-Alcalá et al. 2011:576 [ref. 31520], Page et al. 2013:96 [ref. 32708], Raz-Guzmán et al. 2018:345 [ref. 36407], Cordeiro et al. 2020:280 [ref. 37491], Bagley et al. 2023:317 [ref. 41241], Carvalho-Filho 2023:81 [ref. 40480], Page et al. 2023:112 [ref. 40505]). Current status: Valid as Opsanus beta (Goode & Bean 1880). Batrachoididae: Batrachoidinae. Distribution: Western Atlantic: Bahamas and Florida (U.S.A.), including Gulf of Mexico. Invasive in Brazil. IUCN (2019): Least Concern. Habitat: freshwater, brackish, marine.