Smalleye Flathead, Cymbacephalus bosschei (Bleeker 1860)

Other Names: Fine-spotted Flathead, Smalleyed Flathead, Small-eyed Flathead

Summary:

A pale brownish to greenish-brown flathead mottled with darker blotches, spots and speckles, a large elongate dark blotch along the upper and lower margins of the caudal fin, dark spots forming vertical bands on rest of caudal fin, small brown spots on dorsal, pectoral and pelvic fins, and the anal fin pale tan anteriorly and dark brown posteriorly.

Cite this page as:

Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO & Bray, D.J. 2020, Cymbacephalus bosschei in Fishes of Australia, accessed 25 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2175

Smalleye Flathead, Cymbacephalus bosschei (Bleeker 1860)

More Info

Distribution	Shark Bay (Western Australia) to Moreton Bay (Queensland); elsewhere, the species occurs in the east-Indo-west Pacific; in northern Australia, from Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Borneo and Singapore. Inhabits soft sediment areas near coastal reefs and reef flats at depths to 50 m, often lying partly buried in sand.
Features	Dorsal fin IX or I, VII, I, 11-13 (usually 12); Anal fin 12 or 13; Pectoral fin 18-21 (usually 19 or 20); Pelvic fin I, 5; Caudal fin 9-11; Lateral line scales (pored) 51-55 (usually 52 or 53). Body elongate, slightly depressed. Head large (length 29-31% SL), moderately depressed; bony ridges smooth anteriorly, with a few small spines posteriorly, suborbital ridge with a single small spine behind eye (often absent in adults); a single preocular spine present; lower edge bicarinate; eyes relatively small (14-16% HL), iris lappet semicircular and very cirrose, no dermal papillae on upper eye; no pit behind eye; mouth large, extending to or just behind level of anterior margin of eye; teeth small, villiform, in two separate patches on vomer, in elongated bands on palantines, no greatly enlarged canines; usually two (rarely 3) short, subequal preopercular spines at angle of preopercle; gill rakers on first gill arch 6 or 7 (usually 6); interopercular flap present, broad with shallow incisions. Scales small, finely ctenoid, covering body and most of head; lateral line scales similar to adjacent scales on side, 55-68, with a single pore opening posteriorly, oblique rows of scales above lateral line, anterior 0-2 scales with a weak spine, single pored. First dorsal fin spinous with short base, first spine very short, longest spines longer than second dorsal-fin rays. Second dorsal fin with moderately long base, rays longer than anal-fin rays. Anal fin similar in shape, commencing just posterior to second dorsal-fin origin. Caudal fin broadly rounded. Pectoral fins short and rounded. Pelvic fins long, based below centre of pectoral fins, extending just beyond anal-fin origin.
Size	Maximum length at least 44 cm TL.
Colour	Pale brownish to greenish-brown above with mottling of dark brown blotches, sometimes with white to faint brown spots anteriorly; light tan ventrally; lower lip with about 4 dark brownish bars. Caudal fin with a large elongate dark blotch on upper and lower margins, dark brown spots forming vertical bands on rest of fin; dorsal, pectoral and pelvic fins with small brown spots; anal fin light tan anteriorly, dark brown posteriorly.
Feeding	Presumably primarily piscivorous, also large benthic crustaceans.
Fisheries	Taken occasionally by trawls and spear fishing.
Species Citation	Platycephalus bosschei Bleeker, 1860, Natuurkd. Tijdschr. Neder. Indië 21: 140. Type locality: Muntok, Bangka, Indonesia.
Author	Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO & Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Smalleye Flathead, Cymbacephalus bosschei (Bleeker 1860)

References

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Blaber, S.J.M., Brewer, D.T., Salini, J.P., Kerr, J.D. & Conacher, C. 1992. Species composition and biomasses of fishes in tropical seagrasses at Groote Eylandt, northern Australia. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 35: 605-620 (as Suggrundus bosschei)

Blaber, S.J.M., Young, J.W. & Dunning, M.C. 1985. Community structure and zoogeographic affinities of the coastal fishes of the Dampier region of north-western Australia. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 36: 247-266. (as Suggrundus bosschei)

Bleeker, P. 1860. Tiende bijdrage tot de kennis der vischfauna van Banka. Natuurwetenschappelijk Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië 21: 135-142. See ref at BHL

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

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. (as Inegocia bosschei)

Hutchins, J.B. 2003. Checklist of marine fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. pp. 453-478 in Wells, F.E., Walker, D.I., & Jones, D.S. (eds). Proceedings of the Eleventh International Marine Biological Workshop: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum.

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

Imamura, H. 2020. Synonymy of Cymbacephalus staigeri (Castelnau 1875) and Cymbacephalus nematophthalmus(Günther 1860), and validity of Cymbacephalus parilis (McCulloch 1914) (Scorpaeniformes: Platycephalidae). Ichthyological Research: 7 pp.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-020-00779-x

Johnson, J.W. 1999. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 43(2): 709-762.(as Levanaora bosschei)

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)

Klunzinger, C.B. 1879. Die v. Müller'sche Sammlung Australischer Fische. Anzeiger der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse, Wien 16(22): 254-261 (described as Platycephalus muelleri)

Klunzinger, C.B. 1880. Die von Müller'sche Sammlung australischer Fische in Stuttgart. Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften. Wien 80(1): 325–430 pls 1–9 (as Platycephalus muelleri)

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 2069-2790 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp. (as Suggrundus bosschei)

Larson, H.K. & Williams, R.S. 1997. Darwin Harbour fishes: a survey and annotated checklist. pp. 339-380 in Hanley, H.R., Caswell, G., Megirian, D. & Larson, H.K. (eds). The Marine Flora and Fauna of Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. Proceedings of the Sixth International Marine Biology Workshop. Darwin : Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 466 pp. (as Suggrundus bosschei)

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.

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 (as Insidiator bosschei)

Russell, B.C. & Houston, W. 1989. Offshore fishes of the Arafura Sea. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 6(1): 69-84. (as Suggrundus bosschei)

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1985. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls. (as Suggrundus bosschei)