Australia country information

Common names: Bass flathead, Bay flathead, Common flathead
Occurrence: endemic
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: common (usually seen) | Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Importance: commercial | Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Aquaculture: never/rarely | Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Regulations: restricted | Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Uses: no uses
Comments: Type localities: Westernport, Victoria, MNHN 1437 (holotype of Platycephalus bassensis, 23.29 cm SL); Port Arthur, Tasmania, BMNH 1855.9.19.56-57 (syntypes of Platycephalus tasmanius) (Ref. 75154). Present from Red Rock in northern New South Wales, along the southern Australian coastline as far as Lancelin in Western Australia; most common in Victoria and Tasmania. Commercial fishery: Sand flathead are caught commercially by demersal otter trawling and Danish seining in open coastal waters, and by gillnets, haul seines, handlines and anchored longlines in bays and inlets. Commercial catches of sand flathead are taken mainly off southern New South Wales between Narooma and Eden, in eastern Bass Strait (Ref. 26996) and in several Victorian bays and inlets such as Port Phillip Bay (Ref. 26431. 125684) (where most cathes are made from April to June and from October to November). Sand flathead are a secondary commercial species in Tasmania where tiger flathead (Platycephalus richardsoni) are by far the main commercial flathead species. Although widespread in South Australia, sand flathead are not targeted but are caught incidentally on the continental shelf. The New South Wales sand flathead catch includes an unknown proportion of northern sand flathead, Platycephalus arenarius, eastern blue-spotted flathead, P. caeruleopunctatus and yank flathead P. speculator. In Port Phillip Bay (Victoria), sand flathead comprise 50-80% of the total commercial flathead catch. The remainder consists mostly of rock flathead (P. laevigatus) and yank flathead (Ref. 26431). Sand flathead are sold whole, or gilled and gutted, or as fillets. Recreational fishery: In southern New South Wales and Port Phillip Bay, sand flathead is the main flathead species caught by anglers. Flathead are caught with handlines from drifting boats, jetties and shorelines and also with seine nets and gillnets. In Port Phillip Bay the recreational sand flathead catch is estimated to be more than 400 t a year, and is about 10 times that taken by commercial fishers (Ref. 27018). In Tasmania, sand flathead are sought by anglers mostly during summer and are the most important recreational fish species in the State. A 1983 survey in Tasmania estimated that 20% of the Tasmanian population fished specifically for sand flathead that year. The popularity of sand flathead has not diminished since then. In South Australia and Western Australia, sand flathead are caught incidentally. According to Australian Underwater Federation spearfishing records, the largest sand flathead weighed 3,100 g caught in South Australia. Resource status: As of 1993, the resource status of sand flathead is unclear. Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmanian catches appear stable, but evidence of long-term trends is lacking. Commercial sand flathead catches in Port Phillip Bay had fallen from more than 160 t in the 1950s to less than 30 t a year in the 1980s (Ref. 26431). The reason for these lower catches may include changes in commercial fishing gear and/or target preferences in Port Phillip Bay, and market competition from trawl-caught flathead from other areas (Ref. 26431). Also Ref. 2156, 12964.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.csiro.au/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Sand flathead, 巴斯鲬, Bass flathead, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Scorpaenoidei (Scorpionfishes) > Platycephalidae (Flatheads)
Etymology: Platycephalus: Greek, platys = flat + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Cuvier.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 1 - 100 m (Ref. 9563). Temperate; 30°S - 43°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: known only from southern Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 23.5 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 46.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9563); max. published weight: 3.1 kg (Ref. 6390)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 18 - 20. This species differs from Platycephalus westraliae in having the following characters: both second dorsal and anal fin rays usually 14 (vs. 13), total gill rakers 18-20 (vs. 10); palatine with a tooth band comprised of several irregular rows of conical teeth (vs. with an inner larger conical and an outer smaller villiform tooth rows); caudal fin with several small pale brown spots on the upper lobe and one or two large dark brown or black spots on the lower lobe, and with concave posterior margin (vs. with 3 dark bands and with mostly straight posterior margin) (Ref. 86914).

Inhabit coastal waters from shallow bays and inlets to depths of about 100 m over sand, shell grit and mud substrates (Ref. 6390). Sand flathead are usually solitary but may form loose aggregations (Ref. 2165, 27247). They sometimes move long distances (Ref. 6390). They are active foragers and ambush predators (Ref. 6390), occasionally are scavengers (Ref. 6390). Feed on crustaceans and fish (Ref. 2165). Its fin spines are venomous, can inflict mild to severe pain (Ref. 125684).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Paxton, J.R., D.F. Hoese, G.R. Allen and J.E. Hanley, 1989. Pisces. Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Vol. 7. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 665 p. (Ref. 7300)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Not Evaluated

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Venomous (Ref. 125684)

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial

FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

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Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 14.6 - 18.5, mean 17.1 (based on 242 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00490 (0.00381 - 0.00630), b=3.06 (2.98 - 3.14), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.3 ±0.75 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.19; tmax=9).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (29 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): High.

Platycephalus bassensis Cuvier, 1829

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Biology Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

CITES (Ref. 128078)

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Threat to humans

Human uses

More information

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

Estimates based on models