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Bartail
flathead
Platycephalus indicus*
Family Platycephalidae
updated
Oct 2020
Where
seen? These rather large flatheads are sometimes seen on
some of our shores on muddy and sandy areas near seagrass meadows.
It is said that small juveniles have been found in freshwater.
Features: 8-12cm
long. It can grow to 50cm-1m long! Big head is flat and smooth, mouth
is large; with the lower jaw longer than the upper jaw. Eyes large
and protruding, near the top of the head. A laplet eye-lid forms a
keyhole shape over the eye. It has no fringes near the eye. The long
body is cylindrical and tapers towards the tail. The tail has colourful
markings of 2-3 black bars on white or light blue with yellow blotch
in the middle of the tail, but hard to see. Body colour matches the
surroundings, with lots of little spots and 2-3 dark bars, sometimes
with two pairs of white blotches across the body near the tail.
Sometimes mistaken for other flattened fishes that live on the sea bottom. Here's more on how to tell apart fishes
with flat heads.
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East Coast Park, Nov 08 |
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Chek
Jawa, Sep 03 |
| Human uses: It is considered a
good food fish and is used in traditional Chinese medicine. |
*Species are difficult
to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of
display.
| Bartail
flatheads on Singapore shores |
| Other sightings on Singapore shores |
Kusu Island, Aug 24
Photo shared by Kelvin Yong on facebook. |
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Links
References
- Allen, Gerry,
2000. Marine
Fishes of South-East Asia: A Field Guide for Anglers and Divers.
Periplus Editions. 292 pp.
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