Bigspine Flathead, Insidiator macracanthus (Bleeker 1869)

Other Names: Largespined Flathead, Large-spined Flathead

Illustration of a Bigspine Flathead, Suggrundus macracanthus. Source: FAO / FishBase. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A brown flathead becoming whitish below, with faint darker bands across the back, orange flecks on the head, a pale yellowish blotch on the central 1/3 of the caudal fin that extends for the length of the fin, upper and lower parts of the caudal fin whitish, and a greyish pectoral fin with dark spots above.

Cite this page as:

Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO & Bray, D.J. 2024, Insidiator macracanthus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 12 Oct 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/3230

Bigspine Flathead, Insidiator macracanthus (Bleeker 1869)

More Info

Distribution	Continental shelf of northern Australia, from the North West Shelf, Western Australia to off Gladstone, Queensland. Elsewhere the species occurs in the Indo-west Pacific, from southern India and Sri Lanka to Malaysia, Gulf of Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan Province of China, Indonesia and Philippines. Inhabits muddy and sandy areas to depths of 132 m.
Features	Dorsal fin IX or I, VIII, 11 or 12 (usually 12); Anal fin 12 or 13 (usually 12); Caudal fin 15; Pectoral fin 20-23 (usually 21 or 22); Pelvic fin I, 5; Gill rakers on first arch 7-9 (usually 8); Lateral line (pored) 50-55 (usually 52 or 53). Body elongate, depressed. Head large (length ~37% SL), moderately depressed; supraorbital ridge smooth over anterior third of eye, with stout spines posteriorly; suborbital ridge with 4-6 strong spines; eye moderately large (~18% HL); ocular flap absent; teeth in vomer in two parallel longitudinal bands, teeth small and sharp; 3 preopercular spines, upper long and strong, bayonet-like, reaching to, or past, opercular margin, with an accessory spine on base; elongated interopercular flap present. Scales finely ctenoid dorsally, cycloid ventrally, covering body and most of head behind eyes; lateral line scales slightly smaller than adjacent scales on side; oblique scale rows slanting downward above lateral line about equal to number of lateral-line scales. Lateral-line scales 50-55 (usually 52 or 53), anterior 13 to 33 scales bearing a small spine or ridge. First dorsal fin spinous with short base, first spine very short, attached to second spine by low integument, following spines much longer. Second dorsal fin with moderately long base, anterior rays longest, nearly as long as longest first dorsal spines. Anal fin similar in shape, opposite and slightly longer-based than second dorsal fin. Caudal fin rounded. Pectoral fins moderately small. Pelvic fins long, reaching to anal fin origin.
Size	Maximum length about 26cm TL, commonly to 18 cm TL.
Colour	Brown above with faint darker bands across back, head with orange flecks; whitish below. Caudal fin with blond patch on central 1/3 extending for the length of the fin, upper and lower thirds whitish; pectoral fin greyish below, with dark spots above; pelvic fin greyish.
Feeding	Known to feed on epibenthic shrimp.
Fisheries	Taken in trawl fisheries over muddy and sandy bottoms.
Conservation
Remarks	This species was previously known as Suggrundus macracanthus.
Etymology	The specific name macracanthus is from the Greek macros (= large, long) and acanthus (= thorn, spine), in reference to the longer opercular spine of this species compared with that of Platycephalus bobossok (= Sunagocia carbunculus).
Species Citation	Platycephalus macracanthus Bleeker 1869, Versl. Akad. Amsterdam 2(3): 253. Type locality: Ambon Island, Molucca Islands, Indonesia (as Amboina).
Author	Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO & Bray, D.J. 2024
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Bigspine Flathead, Insidiator macracanthus (Bleeker 1869)

References

Beaufort, L.F., De & Briggs, J.C. 1962. The Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. XI. Brill, Leiden. 481 pp. (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Blaber, S.J.M., Brewer, D.T. & Harris, A.N. 1994. Distribution, biomass and community structure of demersal fishes of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 45(3): 375-396. (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Bleeker, P. 1869. Description et figure d'une espèce inédite de platycèphale. Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen (Afdeeling Natuurjunde). Amsterdam 2 3: 253-254

Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwestern Australia. Canberra: Australian Development Assistance Bureau, 406 pp. (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Imamura, H., 1996. Phylogeny of the family Platycephalidae and related taxa (Pisces: Scorpaeniformes). Species Diversity 1(2): 123-233. (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Imamura, H., Hoese, D.F. 2020. Insidiator Jordan and Snyder 1900, a valid genus of the family Platycephalidae (Scorpaeniformes). Ichthyological Research 67: 541–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-020-00742-w

Keenan, C.P. 1991. Phylogeny of Australian species of flatheads (Teleostei, Platycephalidae) as determined by allozyme electrophoresis. Journal of Fish Biology 39(Supplement A): 237-249 (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Knapp, L.W. 1999. Family Platycepalidae. pp. 2385-2421 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790. (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293 (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

McCulloch, A.R. 1914. 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 2. Biological Results of the Fishing Experiments carried on by the F.I.S. Endeavour 1909-1914 2(3): 77-165 figs 1-15 pls 13-34 See ref at BHL

Motomura, H., Matsuura, K. & Khan, M. 2018. Suggrundus macracanthus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T114175363A114175405. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T114175363A114175405.en. Accessed on 11 June 2024.

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. (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Russell, B.C. & Houston, W. 1989. Offshore fishes of the Arafura Sea. The Beagle 6(1): 69-84. (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.C. 1985. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra, C.S.I.R.O. Division of Fisheries Research, 375 pp. (as Suggrundus macracanthus)

Whitley, G.P. 1930. Ichthyological miscellanea. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 10: 8–31, pl 1(placed I. macracnthus in the genus Suggrundus, which was an unnecessary replacement name for Insidiator)

Whitley, G.P. 1964. A survey of Australian Ichthyology. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 89(1): 11-127 as Repotrudis macracanthus)