''Platycephalus endrachtensis'', or the bar-tailed flathead, bar-tail flathead, flag-tail flathead, northern sand flathead, northern-flag tailed flathead, sand flathead, western estuary flathead, is a predatory fish in the
family Platycephalidae
The Platycephalidae are a family of marine fish, most commonly referred to as flatheads. They are relatives of the popular lionfish, belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes.
Taxonomy
Platycephalidae was first proposed as a family in 1839 by the E ...
.
It is found from the eastern
Indian Ocean to the western
Pacific, including in Australian and Indonesian waters up to deep over sand, at temperatures between . The maximum length of the species is , and its weight up to . A popular angling species, the
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''endrachtensis'' refers to
Eendrachtsland, an early Dutch name for
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, with the suffix ''-ensis'', meaning "place".
Venomous spines are hazardous for safe handling.
Description
''Platycephalus endrachtensis'' has a sandy pale brown to tan colouration for camouflage.
It is recognised by the black spots on its tail.
The species can be differentiated from the similar ''
P. australis'' from the two dark horizontal bars on the
caudal fin and the yellow blotch on the middle fin, and from ''
P. westraliae'' by a triangular
lappet above the upper
iris.
It is found from the eastern
Indian Ocean to the western
Pacific, including in Australian and Indonesian waters up to deep over sand, at temperatures between . The maximum length of the species is , and its weight up to .
Unlike their relatives, they are not protandrous hermaphrodites.
Behaviour
''P. endrachtensis'' is harmless to humans, is normally seen on the
ocean floor, and if provoked, will burst from the sand quickly and settle again nearby.
Range and habitat
The species ranges in Australian waters from
Hamelin Bay, Western Australia, to
St Helens, Tasmania, with the type locality in
Shark Bay
Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...
;
it spawns in the
Swan River estuary from late spring to the start of autumn.
It is also found in
Indonesia.
They can be seen drifting on sand flats.
Diet
The fish is an ambush predator, altering its skin colouring by "arranging
ts pigments within
chromatophores" ( A.J. Hirst, 2014) and feeds on fish and sometimes large
benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
crustaceans.
Relations to humans
The species is edible, with the advised range about , as any size bigger will cause harder and drier meat, and any smaller will contain too low levels of meat.
They are protected in Australian waters, where it is illegal to keep specimens under 300mm, which males hardly reach.
The species was not generally considered to be
overfished,
however in 2022 it was classified as depleted in Tasmania.
Concerns had been raised in 2014,
leading to changes in Tasmanian size and bag limits in 2015.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10633154
endrachtensis
Marine fish of Australia
Fish of Indonesia
Fish described in 1825
Taxa named by Jean René Constant Quoy
Taxa named by Joseph Paul Gaimard