Platycephalus indicus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Scorpaeniformes |
Family: | Platycephalidae |
Genus: | Platycephalus |
Species: | P. indicus |
Binomial name | |
Platycephalus indicus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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Synonyms | |
Platycephalus spathula Bloch, 1795 |
Platycephalus spathula Bloch, 1795
The bartail flathead (Platycephalus indicus), also called bar-tailed flathead, bartail blenny, gobi, Indian flathead, or Indo-Pacific flathead, is the type species for the Platycephalus genus of fish. It is found in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. The species has been recorded in the Mediterranean, having invaded as a Lessepsian migrant through the Suez Canal. However, although a number of specimens were caught in trawls in the late 1970s then none were caught until 2011, when one was taken off Lebanon. Following the revision of genus Platycephalus in Australia, Australian specimens previously assigned to this species are now considered a separate species, Platycephalus australis.
Platycephalus indicus grow to a maximum length of 100 cm (39 in) TL, although they are commonly smaller, to 60 cm (24 in) TL. They live on sandy and muddy bottoms of coastal waters, including estuaries, and juveniles have even been taken in freshwater. It is a commercial fish species.