''Platycephalus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of mostly marine,

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer o ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Platycephalidae The Platycephalidae are a Family (biology), family of marine ray-finned fish, most commonly referred to as flatheads. They are relatives of the lionfish, and belong to the order Perciformes. Taxonomy Platycephalidae was first proposed as a famil ...

. 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, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

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 ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

from "Asia", as its

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

. This genus is

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

within the family Playtcephalidae, the flatheads which 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 ...

'' classifies within the

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

Platycephaloidei Platycephaloidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes, part of the Order (biology), order Scorpaeniformes, and includes the Platycephalidae, flatheads, ghost flatheads and Triglidae, sea robins. Taxonomy Platycephaloidei was first recognised and n ...

in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Scorpaeniformes The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse Order (biology), order of Actinopterygii, 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 spec ...

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 angustus ''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 propo ...

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

, 1866 (Steindachner's flathead) * ''

Platycephalus aurimaculatus ''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 propo ...

'' L. W. Knapp, 1987 (Toothy flathead) * ''

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) * ''

Platycephalus bassensis ''Platycephalus bassensis'' the Southern sand flathead, Bass flathead, bay flathead, common flathead, sand flathead, sandy, sandy flathead, slimy flathead or ''yanks'', is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalid ...

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

, 1829 (Sand flathead) * '' Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus'' 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'' 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 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 ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

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

. with the lowerer spine being the longest. The upper lobe of the

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

does not have an elongated filament. They have between 7 and 10 spines in the first

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 more than 13 soft rays in the second dorsal fin. They are further separated by having a single band of

vomerine teeth The vomer (; ) 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 maxillary bones. The vomer forms t ...

rather than two distinct patches. The largest species is ''P. fuscus'' with a maximum published

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

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 s ...

region, mostly around Australia where 16 of the 19 species in the genus are found. One species, the

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 is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

as a

Lessepsian migrant The Lessepsian migration (or Erythrean invasion) is the migration of marine species along the Suez Canal, usually from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and more rarely in the opposite direction. When the canal was completed in 1869, fish, ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2445813 Platycephalidae Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch