''Platycephalus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of mostly
marine,
demersal 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 h ...
belonging to the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Platycephalidae. They are found in the eastern Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomy
''Platycephalus'' was first proposed as a genus in 1795 by 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 ...
with ''Callionymus indicus'', which had been
described in 1748 by
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
from "Asia", as its
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 specime ...
.
[ This genus is classified within the family Playtcephalidae, the flatheads which the 5th edition of '' Fishes of the World'' classifies within the suborder ]Platycephaloidei
Platycephaloidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes, part of the order Scorpaeniformes, and includes the flatheads, ghost flatheads and sea robins.
Taxonomy
Platycephaloidei was first recognised and named as a taxonomic grouping in 1943 by the ...
in the order Scorpaeniformes
The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of species, with over 1,320.
They are ...
.
Etymology
The genus name ''Platycephalus'' means "flat head" an allusion to the wide flattened head of these fishes which leads to the English common name flathead.
Species
There are currently 19 recognised species in this genus:Platycephalus australis
''Platycephalus'' is a genus of mostly marine fish, marine, Demersal fish, demersal ray-finned fish belonging to the family (biology), family Platycephalidae. They are found in the eastern Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean ...
'' Imamura, 2015 (Australian bartail flathead) McCulloch
McCulloch is a Scottish surname. It's a variation of the Northern Irish surname McCullough. It's commonly found in Galloway.
Notable people with the surname include:
*Alan McCulloch (politician), New Zealand politician
*Alan McLeod McCulloch ( ...
, 1922 (Blue-spotted flathead)
* '' Platycephalus chauliodous'' L. W. Knapp, 1991 (Big-tooth flathead)
* '' Platycephalus conatus'' Waite & McCulloch, 1915 (Deep-water flathead)
* '' Platycephalus cultellatus'' J. Richardson, 1846
* '' Platycephalus endrachtensis'' Quoy & Gaimard
Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist.
Biography
Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ...
, 1825 (Yellow-tail flathead)
* ''Platycephalus fuscus
''Platycephalus fuscus'', the dusky flathead or black flathead, (literally translating from Ancient Greek as "''flat-head dusky''") is a large predatory fish and the largest member of the family (biology), family Platycephalidae. Dusky flathead a ...
'' Cuvier, 1829 (Dusky flathead)
* '' Platycephalus grandispinis'' Cuvier, 1829 (Long-spined flathead) [Imamura, H. (2013): Validity of ''Platycephalus grandispinis'' Cuvier, 1829, with Priority over ''Platycephalus longispinis'' Macleay, 1884 (Actinopterygii: Scorpaeniformes: Platycephalidae). ''Species Diversity, 18 (2): 183-192.'']
* '' Platycephalus indicus'' (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 ...
, 1758) (Bar-tail flathead)
* '' Platycephalus laevigatus'' Cuvier, 1829 (Black flathead)
* '' Platycephalus marmoratus'' Stead, 1908 (Marbled flathead)
* '' Platycephalus micracanthus'' Sauvage, 1873
* '' Platycephalus orbitalis'' Imamura & L. W. Knapp, 2009 (Western Australian flathead)
* '' Platycephalus richardsoni'' Castelnau, 1872 (Tiger flathead)
* '' Platycephalus speculator'' Klunzinger, 1872 (Southern bluespotted flathead)
* '' Platycephalus westraliae'' ( Whitley, 1938)
Characteristics
''Platycephalus'' flatheads have no less than two spines on the preoperculum. with the lowerer spine being the longest. The upper lobe of 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 ...
does not have an elongated filament. They have between 7 and 10 spines in 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 c ...
and more than 13 soft rays in the second dorsal fin. They are further separated by having a single band of 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 ...
rather than two distinct patches.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 while the smallest is ''P. orbitalis'' with a maximum published total length of .[
]
Distribution
''Platycephalus'' flatheads are found in the Indo-West 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 ...
region, mostly around Australia where 16 of the 19 species in the genus are found.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 ...
(''P. indicus''), has entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
through the Suez Canal as a Lessepsian migrant.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2445813
Platycephalidae
Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch