Shortfin Batfish, Zabidius novemaculeatus (McCulloch 1916)

Other Names: Ninespine Batfish, Ninespined Batfish, Nine-spined Batfish, Short-fin Batfish, Short-finned Batfish

A Shortfin Batfish, Zabidius novemaculeatus, on North West Cape, Westrn Australia, August 2018. Source: Alex Hoschke / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A silvery batfish with a narrow dark band on the head through the eye, another band through the gill cover and pectoral-fin base, dusky vertical fins with darker margins, dark pelvic fins, and two rows of whitish spots above the lateral line. The vertical bands are distinct in juveniles and fade with growth.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Zabidius novemaculeatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 25 Jan 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2211

Shortfin Batfish, Zabidius novemaculeatus (McCulloch 1916)

More Info

Distribution	Onslow, Western Australia, to Moreton Bay, Queensland. The species also occurs in New Guinea. Mostly inhabits silty-sand areas near coastal reefs, rarely occurring on reefs.
Features	Dorsal fin IX, 27-29; Anal fin III, 20-22. Body orbicular and strongly compressed, its depth more than twice head length and 1.2 to 1.4 times in SL. Head length 3.1 to 3.6 times in SL. Head profile of adults with a slight bump between eyes. Snout, preopercle flange, and lower jaw naked, rest of head scaly. Jaws with 2 to 4 rows flattened, tricuspid teeth. Small patch of teeth on vomer. Palatines toothless. Five pores on each side of lower jaw. Preopercle with a few rudimentary serrae along its rounded angle. Opercle with a flat spine, and a rounded bone on its upper portion
Colour	Silvery, with faint dark horizontal lines between scale rows. Brown band from top of head through eye to chest (fading with growth). Another, less distinct, curved dark bands from nape across operculum and pectoral-fin base to belly. Median fins dusky or pale with dark margins.
Fisheries	Inhabits trawl grounds and is taken as bycatch.
Etymology	The specific name novemmaculeatus is from the Latin novem (= nine) and aculeatus (= prickly, thorny), in reference to the dorsal fin having nine spines. 'They differ from all other species of Platax in having nine dorsal spines.'
Species Citation	Platax novemaculeatus McCulloch 1916, Biological Results of the Fishing Experiments carried on by the F.I.S. Endeavour 1909-1914 4(4): 188. Type locality: Four to twenty miles N.E. of Gloucester Head, Queensland, 19-35 fathoms.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Shortfin Batfish, Zabidius novemaculeatus (McCulloch 1916)

References

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Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

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McCulloch, A.R. 1916. Report on some fishes obtained by the F.I.S. Endeavour on the coasts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South and South-Western Australia. Part 4. Biological Results of the Fishing Experiments carried on by the F.I.S. Endeavour 1909-1914 4(4): 169-199 figs 1-2 pls 49-58

Ramm, D.C., Pender, P.J., Willing, R.S. & Buckworth, R.C. 1990. Large-scale spatial patterns of abundance within the assemblage of fish caught by prawn trawlers in Northern Australian waters. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 41(1): 79-95.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Russell, B.C. 1983. Annotated checklist of the coral reef fishes in the Capricorn-Bunker group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Special Publication Series 1: 1-184 figs 1-2

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1984. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls.

Whitley, G.P. 1930. Ichthyological miscellanea. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 10(1): 8-31 fig. 1 pl. 1