Marbled Shortnose Seabat, Halicmetus marmoratus Weber 1913
A Marbled Shortnose Seabat, Halicmetus marmoratus, AMS I,24822-001, from off Wollongong, New South Wales, 34°38’S, 151°15’E, 348 m, 19 July 1979. Source: Ken J. Graham, Fig. 1B, in Ho & Last (2018) Zootaxa 4508(2): 179-196. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Summary:
A pinkish-yellow seabat with a blackish-green marbled pattern, pale fins, and a pale to pinkish underside. The species has a strongly depressed broad almost semicircular disc covered in simple tubercles.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2026, Halicmetus marmoratus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 10 Nov 2026, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/5477
Marbled Shortnose Seabat, Halicmetus marmoratus Weber 1913
More Info
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Distribution |
Eastern Australia, from off Raine Island, Coral Sea, Queensland, to south of Point Hicks, Victoria, and southeast of Hobart, Tasmania. Inhabits seamounts, ridges and rises on the continental slope at depths of 256-695 m, mostly between 300 and 500 m. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin 4–5; Anal fin 4; Pectoral fin 11-14; Pelvic fin I, 5. Disc broader than long, almost semicircular in shape, depressed; snout short, rounded. Head broad and flattened, snout short and rounded, projecting over a small ventral mouth. Mid-dorsal disc with simple spinules and densely covered in well-developed, granular, dome-shaped bucklers; belly with relatively widely spaced, simple spinules and low multicuspid tubercles. Illicial cavity distinct on snout; illicium short and recessed, with a small lure. Pectoral fins broad and lateral. |
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Remarks |
Ho and Last (2018) tentatively identified two specimens from Madagascar as Halicmetus marmoratus. |
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Etymology |
The specific name is from the Latin marmoratus (= marbled), in reference to the brown pattern on the upper surface. |
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Species Citation |
Halicmetus ruber var. marmoratus Weber 1913, Die Fische der Siboga-Expedition: 567. Type locality: Madura Sea, 7°15'S, 115°15.6'E, depth 289 m. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2026 |
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Resources |
Marbled Shortnose Seabat, Halicmetus marmoratus Weber 1913
References
Ho, H.-C. & Last, P.R. 2018. Review of the batfish genus Halicmetus Alcock, 1891 from Australian waters, with descriptions of two new species (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae). Zootaxa 4508(2): 179-196. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4508.2.2
Weber, M. 1913. Die Fische der Siboga-Expedition. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 710 pp., 12 pls. See ref at BHL
