The bullrout (''Notesthes robusta''), also commonly called freshwater stonefish or kroki, is a pale yellowish to dark-brown coloured

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

that lives in tidal

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

and slow-flowing streams in eastern Australia, from southern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

to northern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

.
It has on a very infrequent occurrence been caught at sea. Its spines are venomous. It is the only member of the genus ''Notesthes''. It is often confused with the true stonefish.

Taxonomy and etymology

The bullrout was first formally described in 1860 as ''Centropogon robustus'' by the German-born British

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

and

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther , also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3October 18301February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive reptile tax ...

with its type locality given as

. The genus ''Notesthes'' was described in 1903 by the Australian ichthyologist

James Douglas Ogilby James Douglas Ogilby (16 February 1853 – 11 August 1925) was an Australian ichthyologist and herpetologist. Ogilby was born in Belfast, Ireland, and was the son of zoologist William Ogilby and his wife Adelaide, née Douglas. He received ...

as a monotypic genus for the bullrout. This taxon is included in the subfamily Tetraroginae within the Scorpaenidae in the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' however other authorities place that subfamily within the stonefish family

Synanceiidae Synanceiinae is a subfamily of Venom, venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classification of life, classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific ocean ...

, while other authorities classify this subfamily as a family in its own right. The genus name ''Netesthes'' combines ''notos'', which means

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

, and ''esthes'', meaning "a garment", an allusion to the completely scaled back of this taxon. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''robusta'' means "stout" or "full-bodies", an allusion Günther did not explain but which may be due to its more robust body shape when compared to what was thought to be the closely related

Eastern fortescue The Eastern fortescue (''Centropogon australis''), also known as the fortesque, Southern fortescue, fortie or Southern bullrout, is a species of ray-finned fish, a waspfish belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae of the family Scorpaenidae, the sc ...

(''Centropogon australis'').

Description

The bullrout is big headed with bony ridges, a large mouth and a lower jaw which protrudes beyond the upper jaw. There are 7 spines on the operculum. There are 15 robust spines in the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

and this part of dorsal fin is slightly concave towards the rear with the rearmost soft ray in the dorsal fin being attached to the caudal peduncle by a membrane. The head has no scales but the body is clothed in small scales. The overall colour is pale yellowish to dark brown broken by dark reddish-brown to greyish or black irregular mottling which can coalesce to create irregular bands. The maximum recorded

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

is , although a standard length of is more typical. Notesthes robusta

Distribution and habitat

The bullrout is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to eastern Australia where it occurs from north of

Cooktown, Queensland Cooktown is a coastal town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached h ...

south to

Pambula Pambula is a town in Bega Valley Shire on the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia south of Sydney via the Princes Highway. At the , Pambula had a population of 970 people. History The area was populated by the Thaua Aboriginal people ...

, southern New South Wales. This fish lives in the lower freshwater stretches of rivers and streams, as well as in bays and estuaries. It is typically encountered within aquatic vegetation or woody debris in still or slow flowing freshwaters where there are rocky, muddy or gravel substrates.

Biology

The bullrout is a rather sedentary species in which individuals spend most of the time lying in wait on the bottom or among weeds for prey to pass, it is an

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

feeding on fishes and small crustaceans. They are known to migrate downstream in rivers during periods of heavy rainfall. They breed in freshwater and juveniles have been recorded from the upper reaches of rivers, upstream from barriers.

Danger to humans and first aid

The dorsal, anal, and pelvic spines on a bullrout all contain venom glands. Stings from this animal are reportedly extremely painful but non-lethal. The pain may be treated by applying heat, which denatures the proteins in the venom. Local anaesthetics and analgesics are also reported to be effective. There is some evidence that morphine may not be effective in treating the pain from these stings.

References

External links

Fishes of Australia : ''Notesthes robusta''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2479457 Tetraroginae Venomous fish Marine fish of Eastern Australia Fish described in 1903 Taxa named by Albert Günther