# Insidiator

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***Insidiator*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [marine](/source/Marine_fish), [demersal](/source/Demersal_fish) [ray-finned fish](/source/Ray-finned_fish) belonging to the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Platycephalidae](/source/Platycephalidae). These fishes are native to the eastern [Indian Ocean](/source/Indian_Ocean) and western [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean).

## Taxonomy

*Insidiator* was first proposed as a [monotypic](/source/Monotypic_taxon) genus in 1900 by the American [ichthyologists](/source/Ichthyologists) [David Starr Jordan](/source/David_Starr_Jordan) and [John Otterbein Snyder](/source/John_Otterbein_Snyder) with *Platycephalus rudis*, which had been [described](/source/Species_description) in 1877 from [Yokohama](/source/Yokohama) in Japan, designated as its [type species](/source/Type_species).[1][2] In 1930 the Australian ichthyologist [Gilbert Percy Whitley](/source/Gilbert_Percy_Whitley) proposed the replacement name *Suggrundus* for this genus because he thought Jordan and Snyder's name was preoccupied by *Insidiator* [Oken](/source/Lorenz_Oken) 1842 or by *Insidiator* [Amyot](/source/Charles_Jean-Baptiste_Amyot) 1845 but these names were objectively invalid and the original name is valid and *Suggrundus* is a [junior synonym](/source/Junior_synonym) of *Insidiator* D. S. Jordan & Snyder 1900.[3] This genus is [classified](/source/Taxonomy_(biology)) within the family Playtcephalidae, the flatheads which the 5th edition of *[Fishes of the World](/source/Fishes_of_the_World)* classifies within the [suborder](/source/Suborder) [Platycephaloidei](/source/Platycephaloidei) in the [order](/source/Order_(biology)) [Scorpaeniformes](/source/Scorpaeniformes).[4]

## Etymology

*Insidiator* means "ambusher" or "lurker", an allusion Jordan and Snyder did not explain, it may refer to the [ambush predatory](/source/Ambush_predator) behaviour of the flatheads, in which they hide in the sediment with only the eyes showing, and striking suddenly at passing prey which is swallowed whole by their large mouths. Jordan and Snyder may have taken inspiration for this name from [Forsskål](/source/Peter_Forssk%C3%A5l)'s *Cottus insidiator*, a junior synonym of the [bartail flathead](/source/Bartail_flathead) (*Platycephalus indicus*).[5]

## Species

*Insidiator* currently contains 3 valid species:[6][2]

## Characteristics

*Insidiator* flatheads have at least 2 spines on the [preoperculum](/source/Preoperculum), with the upper spine being the longest, bayonet like and extending past the margin of the [operculum](/source/Operculum_(fish)). There is no elongation of the upper lobe of the [caudal fin](/source/Caudal_fin) with no elongated filament extending out from that fin. The first dorsal fin has between 8 or 9 spines. the second being equal in height to the third, while the second dorsal fin has no more than 12 soft rays. There are 2 separate patches of [vomerine teeth](/source/Vomerine_teeth). There are between 48 and 56 pored scales, each with 2 pores, on the [lateral line](/source/Lateral_line) with spines on the scales in the anterior portion of that line. The diagonal rows of scales run downwards and backwards over lateral line and the number of these rows is roughly about equal to the number of scales in the lateral line, typically with a difference of only 1 or 2 scales. The margin of the pectoral fin is not curved. The bony ridges on the head have a few larger spines and the side of head below the eye has two ridges. The lappet on the iris is either branched with short branches or [crenulated](/source/Crenulate). There is a single preocular spine which can have a cluster of smaller spines around its base. The upper preopercular spine bayonet-like, reaching to or past opercular margin.[7] The maximum length attained by these fishes varies from a [standard length](/source/Standard_length) of 16.4 cm (6.5 in) in *I. meerdervoortii* to a [total length](/source/Total_length) of 30 cm (12 in) in *I. cooperi*.[6]

## Distribution and habitat

Insidiator flatfishes are found in the Indo-West Pacific from the Seychelles[8] east to the [Coral Sea](/source/Coral_Sea), south to Australia[9] and north to Japan.[10] They are demersal fish found at depths down to 132 m (433 ft).[9]

## References

1. Imamura, Hisashi & Hoese, Doug (2020). "*Insidiator* Jordan and Snyder 1900, a valid genus of the family Platycephalidae (Scorpaeniformes)". *Ichthyological Research*. **67** (4): 541–544. [Bibcode:2020IchtR..67..541I](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020IchtR..67..541I). [doi:10.1007/s10228-020-00742-w](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-020-00742-w). [S2CID 215575329](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:215575329)

1. [J. S. Nelson](/source/Joseph_S._Nelson); T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). [*Fishes of the World*](https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/). 5th ed. Wiley. pp. 467–495. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from [the original](https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/) on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2022-07-18.

1. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (eds.) (7 December 2021). ["Order Perciformes (Part 11): Suborder Platycephaloidei: Families Bembridae, Parabembridae, Hoplichthyidae, Platycephalidae and Plectrogeniidae"](https://etyfish.org/perciformes11/). *The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database*. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 18 July 2022.

1. L.W. Poss (1999). "Platycephalidae Flatheads". *FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae to Carangidae)*. Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds.). FAO, Rome. pp. 2385–2421. ISBN 9251043019.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Insidiator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insidiator) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insidiator?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.