Family NEOSEBASTIDAE


Common name: Gurnard Perches

Silhouette

Summary:
A family of scorpaenoid fishes with a prominent head, large eyes, and a large mouth. The head and cheek have strong ridges and spines, rough ctenoid scales cover the body and most of the head, and the fin spines are strong and venomous - dorsal fin with 13 long robust spines (longest much longer than soft dorsal-fin rays), and 6–8 soft dorsal-fin rays.  
Gurnard Perches are exclusively marine and occur in temperate to subtropical waters of the western Pacific and south-east Indian Ocean with an anti-equatorial distribution. 
Species are bottom dwellers that feed on small fishes and crustaceans, and are most commonly taken as incidental by-catch by commercial trawl fishers.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2018, Gurnard Perches, NEOSEBASTIDAE in Fishes of Australia, accessed 08 Dec 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/328