Starry Seabat, Halieutaea stellata (Vahl 1797)
Other Names: Starry Handfish
Starry Seabat, Halieutaea stellata. Source: Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Summary:
A pinkish to reddish seabat covered in a many dark spots forming an irregular vermiculate pattern, and red fins, sometimes with a black margin. The disc is rounded and slightly wider than long, with strongly pointed spiny tubercles on the dorsal surface and body margins.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2022, Halieutaea stellata in Fishes of Australia, accessed 08 Dec 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5669
Starry Seabat, Halieutaea stellata (Vahl 1797)
More Info
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Distribution |
Off north Western Australia, to off the Northern Territory, and off central Queensland to off Newcastle, New South Wales. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin 4; Anal fin 4; Pectoral fin 13; Pelvic fin 5; Caudal fin 9. Body with a broad circular depressed disc; tail shorter than disc; front of head slightly convex; interorbit space broader than eye diameter; mouth large, anteriorly to head; rostrum not projecting in front of disc, esca visible from above; esca with two not well-separated ventral lobes and a dorsal flap, thin fringe present on entire ventral edge of esca; gill 2 1/2. Dorsal surface covered with stout, simple spines, most with four or more roots, those on disc edge including tail spines with 3-5 sharp points; dermal spinules covering disc between tubercles; ventral surface covered with numerous dermal spinules. |
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Etymology |
The specific name is from the Latin stellatus (= covered with stars, starry), in reference to the star-shaped tubercles covering the dorsal surface. |
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Species Citation |
Lophius stellatus Vahl 1797, Skrifter af Naturhistorie-Selskabet. Kjøbenhavn 4(1): 214, pl. 3(3, 4). Type locality: China. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2022 |
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Resources |
Starry Seabat, Halieutaea stellata (Vahl 1797)
References
Bradbury, M.G. 1999. Family Ogcocephalidae. pp. 2023-2025 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1397-2068.
Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp.
Ho, H. 2020. Halieutaea stellata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T140331376A140859602. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T140331376A140859602.en. Accessed on 05 July 2022.
Ho, H.-C., Roberts, C.D. & Shao, K.-T. 2013. Revision of batfishes (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae) of New Zealand and adjacent waters, with description of two new species of the genus Malthopsis. Zootaxa 3626(1): 188-200
Ho, H.-C. & Shao, K.-T. 2008. The batfishes (Lophiiformes Ogcocephalidae) of Taiwan, with descriptions of eight new records. Journal of the Fisheries Society of Taiwan 35(4): 289-313.
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
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.
Vahl, M. 1797. Beskrivelse tvende nye arter af Lophius (L. stellatus og L. setigerus). Skrifter af Naturhistorie-Selskabet. Kjøbenhavn 4(1): 212-216
