Platycephalidae

Platycephalus fuscus

The flatheads or crocodile fish ( Platycephalidae ) live in coastal tropical regions of the Indo-Pacific. One type ( Solitas gruveli ) lives in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, on the coast of Africa, three species have migrated through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean ( Lessepssche migration). The fish prefer continental coasts and often stay on in lagoons of coral reefs and in estuaries.

Features

The name derives from the flatheads is her flat, large, often occupied with spines head. Your body is elongated, slightly flattened at the front, in the back with a round cross section and thin, and with a small comb scales covered. The lower jaw is facing. The animals are between 17 centimeters and 1.10 meters long. You have two distinctly separate dorsal fins. The spines of the first dorsal fin not have venom glands, such as those have the scorpion fish. The first dorsal spine of the first dorsal fin is very short and not connected with the other by the fin membrane. The pelvic fins are behind the pectoral fins approach.

Fins formula: Dorsal 1 VI -X, 2 Dorsal 11-15, 16-22 pectoral

The large, round eyes of the flatheads are on top of the head and are adjusted by a net-like lid that expands depending on the light or contracts, particularly in the sunlit shallows.

Way of life

There are mainly nocturnal ground dwellers with no swim bladder, the wait as ambush predator to prey. On gravel soils they are well camouflaged because of their spotty, usually brownish or gray drawing in sandy soil they bury themselves by shaking movements of the body, looking out until only the eyes and the mouth. Approaching a careless fish, he is sucked by tearing of the big mouth. The fish caught at a greater distance, will swim up to one meter above the crocodile fish by the crocodile fish suddenly skyrocket vertically. In addition to fish and crustaceans, small cephalopods and bristle worms are eaten. If the flatheads threatened, so they rely on their camouflage, and make their first defense on with sting rays reinforced dorsal fin. They flee at the last minute and only swim a short distance to then lay back down on the ground or dig.

Reproduction

The propagation of the crocodile fish is still largely unknown. Some types of conduct annual spawning migrations. The fish mate at night., The eggs are planktonic and have a diameter of less than one millimeter.

Genera and species

There are about 80 species from 19 genera:

  • Ambiserrula Ambiserrula jugosa McCulloch, 1914.
  • Cociella crocodila Tilesius, 1812
  • Cociella heemstrai Knapp, 1996
  • Cociella hutchinsi Knapp, 1996
  • Cociella punctata Cuvier, 1829
  • Cociella somaliensis Knapp, 1996
  • Brown-headed Flathead ( Cymbacephalus beauforti ) Knapp, 1973
  • Cymbacephalus bosschei Bleeker, 1860
  • Cymbacephalus nematophthalmus Günther, 1860
  • Spotted Flathead ( Cymbacephalus staigeri ) Castelnau, 1875
  • Elates ransonnetii Steindachner, 1876
  • Breitkopf Flathead ( Eurycephalus arenicola ) Schultz, 1966
  • Eurycephalus carbunculus Valenciennes, 1833
  • Grammoplites KNAPPi Imamura & Amaoka, 1994
  • Grammoplites scaber Linnaeus, 1758
  • Grammoplites suppositus Troschel, 1840
  • Inegocia guttata Cuvier, 1829
  • Inegocia harrisii McCulloch, 1914
  • Inegocia japonica Tilesius, 1812
  • Kumococius rodericensis Cuvier, 1829
  • Leviprora inops Jenyns, 1840
  • Onigocia bimaculata Imamura & Sakashita, 2000
  • Onigocia grandisquamis Regan, 1908
  • Onigocia macrocephala ( Weber, 1913)
  • Onigocia macrolepis Bleeker, 1854
  • Onigocia oligolepis Regan, 1908
  • Onigocia pedimacula Regan, 1908
  • Temminck & Schlegel Onigocia spinosa, 1844
  • Carpet crocodile fish ( Papilloculiceps longiceps ) Cuvier, 1829
  • Ramsay & Ogilby Platycephalus arenarius, 1886
  • Platycephalus aurimaculatus Knapp, 1987
  • Platycephalus bassensis Cuvier, 1829
  • Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus McCulloch, 1922
  • Platycephalus chauliodous Knapp, 1991
  • Platycephalus conatus Waite & McCulloch, 1915
  • Platycephalus cultellatus Richardson, 1846
  • Quoy & Gaimard Platycephalus endrachtensis, 1825
  • Platycephalus fuscus Cuvier, 1829
  • Indian Flathead ( Platycephalus indicus) Linnaeus, 1758.
  • Platycephalus laevigatus Cuvier, 1829
  • Platycephalus longispinis Macleay, 1884
  • Platycephalus marmoratus Stead, 1908
  • Platycephalus micracanthus Sauvage, 1873
  • Platycephalus richardsoni Castelnau, 1872
  • Platycephalus speculator Klunzinger, 1872
  • Ratabulus diversidens McCulloch, 1914
  • Ratabulus megacephalus Tanaka, 1917
  • Rogadius asper Cuvier, 1829
  • Rogadius melanopterus Knapp & Wongratana, 1987
  • Rogadius nigripinnis Regan, 1905
  • Rogadius patriciae Knapp, 1987
  • Rogadius portuguesus Smith, 1953
  • Rogadius pristiger Cuvier, 1829
  • Perforated flat head ( Rogadius serratus) Cuvier, 1829
  • Rogadius welanderi Schultz, 1966
  • Solitas gruveli Pellegrin, 1905
  • Sorsogona humerosa Knapp & Heemstra, 2011
  • Sorsogona prionota Sauvage, 1873
  • Sorsogona tuberculata Cuvier, 1829
  • Suggrundus cooperi Regan, 1908
  • Suggrundus macracanthus Bleeker, 1869
  • Suggrundus meerdervoortii Bleeker, 1860
  • Sunagocia arenicola ( Schultz, 1966)
  • Sunagocia carbunculus ( Valenciennes, 1833)
  • Sunagocia omanensis Knapp & Randall, 2013
  • Polka Dot Flathead ( Sunagocia otaitensis ) Cuvier, 1829
  • Sunagocia sainsburyi Knapp & Imamura, 2004
  • Thysanophrys armata Fowler, 1938
  • Sulawesi crocodile fish ( Thysanophrys celebica ) Bleeker, 1854
  • Dwarf Flathead ( Thysanophrys chiltonae ) Schultz, 1966
  • Tendrils nose crocodile fish ( Thysanophrys cirronasa ) Richardson, 1848
  • Thysanophrys longirostris Shao & Chen, 1987
  • Thysanophrys papillaris Imamura & Knapp, 1999
  • Thysanophrys randalli Knapp, 2013
  • Thysanophrys Rarita Knapp, 2013
  • Thysanophrys springeri Knapp, 2013
  • Thysanophrys tricaudata Knapp, 2013
Acanthomorpha Perciformes Lessepsian migration Eyelid Genus De Beaufort's flathead Joseph S. Nelson FishBase
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