Animalia Life

Platycephalus indicus
FAMILY
Platycephalidae
TAXONOMY
Platycephalus indicus Linneaus, 1758, Asia.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Bartail flathead; French: Platycйphale des Indes; Spanish: Chato нndico; Japanese: Kochi.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Grows to 39.4 in (100 cm) in maximum length. Characteristic flattened head with various spinous ridges. Vomerine and palatine teeth are canine-like, with broad bands of villiform teeth in jaws. The two dorsal fins are well separated, with an isolated short spine before the first dorsal fin. Body covered with small ctenoid scales. Brownish coloration with eight or nine obscure dusky bands over the back. All fins, except the caudal fin, are covered with dusky spots on the rays. Caudal fin has a median longitudinal black band below and two oblique bands above.
DISTRIBUTION
Known from Israel and Egypt (entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal), eastern Africa, India, Indonesia, China, southern Japan, the Philippines, and Western Australia.
HABITAT
Typically found on rocky and soft bottoms at depths from 33 to 656 ft (10 to 200 m).
BEHAVIOR
A bottom-dwelling fish that spends most of its time buried beneath the sand or among rocks waiting to ambush its next prey.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds primarily on benthic crustaceans and small fishes.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Little is known about the
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
of the Indian flathead.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Occasionally harvested, but not a fish of great commercial importance.

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