Indian flathead

Platycephalus indicus

Fish
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth1–51 m
Water temperature16–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, May, and December
How commonOccasional

About this species

The bartail flathead, also known as the Indian flathead, gobi or Indo-Pacific flathead, is a species of largely marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalidae, the flatheads. This species is found in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific Ocean, and has invaded the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Bartail flathead”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 11 records
February: 7 records
March: 12 records
April: 9 records
May: 13 records
June: 4 records
July: 8 records
August: 7 records
September: 5 records
October: 7 records
November: 6 records
December: 13 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–51 m · Deepest record: 150 m

0–10 m: 13 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 6 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 16–30 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 4 records
18–20 °C: 15 records
20–22 °C: 15 records
22–24 °C: 27 records
24–26 °C: 20 records
26–28 °C: 35 records
28–30 °C: 56 records

Names and classification

English: Indian flathead, Bar-tailed Flathead, Bartailed Flathead, Bartail flathead, Flathead, Gobi, Indo-Pacific Flathead, Sandfish, Vlei Stockfish

Names in 6 more languages

Spanish: Chato Indico
French: Platycéphale des Indes, Platycéphale indien, Poisson-crocodile à queue barrée, Platycéphale Indien
Japanese: Kochi, Minamimagochi, Yoshino-gochi, ミナミマゴチ
Korean: 양태
Thai: Hangkhwai, ปลาหางควายหางแถบ, ปลาหางควายอันดามัน
Simplified Chinese: 印度牛尾魚, 印度鯒, 牛尾, 狗祈仔, 竹甲, 鯒(印度鯒)

Other scientific names: Callionymus indicus, Cottus insidiator, Cottus madagascariensis, Platycephalus insidiator

Similar species

Elates ransonnettii
Japanese Flathead
Inegocia japonica
Crocodile fish
Cymbacephalus beauforti
Black-freckled Flathead
Cymbacephalus nematophthalmus
Longsnout flathead
Thysanophrys chiltonae
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.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,648 open-data records from 1758 to 2023.

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