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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrata > fishes |
| Flatheads Family Platycephalidae updated Nov 08 Where seen? Like a cross between a crocodile and a fish, flatheads are often encountered on our shores. In coral rubble areas as well as sandy areas and seagrass meadows. Although large, flatheads are usually overlooked as they blend in with their surroundings and are sometimes half buried in the sand. What are flatheads? Flatheads belong to the Family Platychephalidae. According to FishBase: the family has 18 genera and 60 species. They are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. Features: 6-25cm long. Some species can grow up to 1m long! The broad, flattened head gives rise to the family's scientific name: 'Platys' means flat and 'kephale' means head in Greek. The snout is long and mouth huge; with the lower jaw slightly longer than the upper jaw. The head has bony ridges and some species have spines. Some species have elaborate tentacles over the eyes. The long body is cylindrical and tapers towards the tail. Spending most of the time on the sea bottom, most species lack swim bladders. Flatheads often lie buried in sandy or muddy bottoms, sometimes with only their eyes sticking out. Together with their camouflaged patterns, they are hard to detect. Sometimes mistaken for some flat-headed sand-dwelling dragonets (Family Callionymidae). Here's more on how to tell apart fishes with flat heads. What do they eat? Flatheads eat small fishes, octopus and cuttlefish, crustaceans and other animals that live on the bottom. Their large, long mouths expand into a huge funnel to suck up prey. They have vomerine teeth (bumps on the roof of the mouth) to help grip and swallow prey. Human uses: Some large species of flatheads are considered good eating. They are caught by seining and trawling. The Bartail flathead (Platycephalus indicus) is commercially cultured in Japan for the table and is also used in Chinese traditional medicine. Status and threats: Our flatheads are not listed among the threatened animals of Singapore. However, like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. Overfishing can also have an impact on local populations. |
 Sentosa, Jul 07  This one lunged and caught another fish.  A bright yellow one! Chek Jawa, Mar 04 |
 East Coast, Nov 08 |
 Disappearing into the sand. |
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Platycephalidae recorded for Singapore from Wee Y.C. and Peter K. L. Ng. 1994. A First Look at Biodiversity in Singapore. *from Lim, Kelvin K. P. & Jeffrey K. Y. Low, 1998. A Guide to the Common Marine Fishes of Singapore. in red are those listed among the threatened animals of Singapore from Ng, P. K. L. & Y. C. Wee, 1994. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened Plants and Animals of Singapore.
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Other references
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The Nature Society (Singapore), Singapore. 343 pp.|
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