The bartail flathead (''Platycephalus indicus''), also known as the Indian flathead, gobi or Indo-Pacific flathead, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of largely marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Platycephalidae, the flatheads. This species is found in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific Ocean, and has invaded the eastern

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

Taxonomy

The bartail flathead was first formally described in 1758 as ''Callionymus indicus'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in the 10th edition of ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

'' with the type locality given as “Asia”. In 1795 the German

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and naturalist

Marcus Elieser Bloch Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) was a German physician and naturalist who is best known for his contribution to ichthyology through his multi-volume catalog of plates illustrating the fishes of the world. Brought up in a Hebrew-speaking Jewish ...

described ''Platycephalus spathula'' from

Tranquebar Tharangambadi (), formerly Tranquebar ( da, Trankebar, ), is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel Coast. It lies north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary named Uppanar of the Kave ...

in India creating the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Platycephalus ''Platycephalus'' is a genus of mostly marine, demersal ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalidae. They are found in the eastern Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Platycephalus'' was first pro ...

''. In 1917

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

and

Barton Warren Evermann Barton Warren Evermann (October 24, 1853 – September 27, 1932) was an American ichthyologist. Early life and education Evermann was born in Monroe County, Iowa in 1853. His family moved to Indiana while he was still a child and it was ...

designated Bloch’s ''P. spathula'' as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of ''Platycephalus'', ''P. spathula'' is now considered to be a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

of Linnaeus’s ''C. Indicus''.

Species complex

There are indications that ''Platycephalus indicus'' ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' is a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, the Australian bartail flathead ('' P. australis'') has been recognised as a valid species, and there is evidence that some of the records of this species from the waters of Japan and China are of two undescribed species, although a 2017 study confirmed the presence of ''P. indicus'' in this region.

Etymology

The specific name ''indicus'' likely refers to the Indian Ocean.

Description

The bartail flathead has a depressed head that is smooth, apart from low parieto-occipital, scapular and preopercular ridges, which are neither spined nor serrated. There is a short, blunt spine in front of the eye. The

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

terminates in 2 strong, slightly upturned spines. There are canine like

vomerine teeth The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxill ...

, with a single obvious row of canine-like teeth on the

palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

while the jaws have wide bands of villiform teeth. The first

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

has a short separate first spine and a further 7-9 spines, the second dorsal fin has 13 soft rays, as does the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

.. The rear margins of the second dorsal fin and anal fin have deep incisions in the membrane between the rays. The overall colour is brownish, there are 8 or 9 indistinct dusky bands across the back. The top of the head is finely mottled with more or less roundish spots each enclosed in a pale ring> the lower body is yellowish. the fins, other than the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

, have rows of dusky spots on the fin rays while the caudal fin has a longitudinal black band in its middle, with 2 diagonal black bands above and below this. This species has a maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of , although is more typical, and a maximum published weight of . Platycephalus indicus, Taiwan (caudal fin)

Distribution and habitat

The bartail flathead has a wide

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

distribution from the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Africa east to the Philippines, north to Japan and south to Papua New Guinea. It was previously thought to occur in northern Australia but this population has now been recognised as a separate species ''P. australis''. It is recorded on occasions in the Levantine waters of the

since 1953, a likely entry from the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

. Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (Platycephalus indicus). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Platycephalus_indicus.pdf The bartail flathead is found at depths between over sand and mud substrates, often close to reefs or seagrass beds, and the juveniles have been known to enter the freshwater reaches of rivers.

Biology

The bartail flat head is an

ambush predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey us ...

feeding on fishes and crustaceans.

Fisheries

The bartail flathead is caught using

handline Handline fishing, or handlining, is a fishing technique where a single fishing line is held in the hands, rather than with a fishing rod like the usual angling. It is a type of angling, and is not to be confused with handfishing, which is catch ...

s and

seine net Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be dep ...

s in shallow waters and by trawls at depths to , typically less. It is considered to be a good food fish and the flesh is sold fresh. It is also an ingredient in

Chinese traditional medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1020669

bartail flathead The bartail flathead (''Platycephalus indicus''), also known as the Indian flathead, gobi or Indo-Pacific flathead, is a species of largely marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalidae, the flatheads. This species is found in t ...

Fish of Bangladesh Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish of Indonesia

Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus