Black-freckled Flathead

Cymbacephalus nematophthalmus

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–40 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and October
How commonOccasional

All species

Photo credit: (c) James H, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 19 records
February: 19 records
March: 20 records
April: 16 records
May: 22 records
June: 16 records
July: 25 records
August: 44 records
September: 44 records
October: 44 records
November: 33 records
December: 15 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–40 m · Deepest record: 106 m

0–10 m: 22 records
10–20 m: 13 records
20–30 m: 21 records
30–40 m: 19 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 37 records
24–26 °C: 22 records
26–28 °C: 119 records
28–30 °C: 58 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Black-freckled Flathead, Blotched Flathead, Fringe-eyed flathead, Fringe-eye Flathead, Northern Rock Flathead, Rock Flathead, Sammy Dong, Spiny Flathead

Other scientific names: Cymbacephalus nematopthalamus, Cymbacephalus nematopthalmus, Cymbacephalus nematopthlamus, Papilloculiceps nematophthalmus, Platycephalus nemathophthalmus, Platycephalus nematophthalmus

Similar species

Crocodile fish
Cymbacephalus beauforti
Elates ransonnettii
Japanese Flathead
Inegocia japonica
Longsnout flathead
Thysanophrys chiltonae
Mud Flathead
Ambiserrula jugosa
crocodile flathead
Cociella crocodilus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
429 open-data records from 1910 to 2022.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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