Platycephalus speculator, Southern bluespotted flathead

Platycephalus speculator Klunzinger, 1872

Southern bluespotted flathead
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Platycephalus speculator   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Platycephalus speculator (Southern bluespotted flathead)
Platycephalus speculator
Picture by Groeneveld, R.

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: Klunzinger.

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

Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 1 - 30 m (Ref. 9563). Subtropical; - 45°S

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

Eastern Indian Ocean: known only from southern Australia, from Western Australia to Victoria and Tasmania. Large adults have been misidentified as Platycephalus fuscus, the common estuarine flathead of New South Wales and southern Queensland (Ref. 9563).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 32.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 90.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9563)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 8 - 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 14; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 13 - 14; Vertebrae: 27. Adults have 3-5 large round black spots with white margins on the lower-half of the caudal fin.
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A shallow water species, recorded from surf beaches, estuaries and in bays (Ref. 9563).

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: Version 2025-2 (Global))

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
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Abundance
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Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
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References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.00457 (0.00234 - 0.00891), b=3.09 (2.91 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		4.0   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time 3.3 (2.5 - 4.4) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 11 growth studies.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=1-2; tmax=12).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Low to moderate vulnerability (35 of 100). 🛈
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 129 [10, 478] mg/100g; Iron = 1.84 [0.49, 4.79] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [16.1, 20.6] %; Omega3 = 0.299 [0.133, 0.836] g/100g; Selenium = 46.7 [12.9, 165.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 7.74 [3.19, 18.47] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.841 [0.391, 1.706] mg/100g (wet weight);