{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox |fossil_range=Ypresian to Recent {{Fossil range|56|0}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sepkoski |first=J. |author-link=Jack Sepkoski |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=364 |page=560 |date=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class }}</ref> |image=Platycephalus fuscus 1.jpg |image_caption=''Platycephalus fuscus'' |taxon=Platycephalus |authority=Bloch, 1795 |type_species=''Callionymus indicus'' |type_species_authority=Linnaeus, 1758 | synonyms = * ''Cacumen'' <small>Whitley, 1931</small> * ''Calliomorus'' <small>Lacepède, 1800</small> * ''Colefaxia'' <small>Whitley, 1935</small> * ''Longitrudis'' <small>Whitley, 1931</small> * ''Neoplatycephalus'' <small>Castelnau, 1872</small> * ''Planiprora'' <small>Whitley, 1931</small> * ''Trudis'' <small>Whitley, 1931</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF>{{Cof family |family= Platycephalidae | access-date = 13 July 2022}}</ref> }}
'''''Platycephalus''''' is a genus of mostly marine, demersal ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalidae. They are found in the eastern Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.
==Taxonomy== ''Platycephalus'' was first proposed as a genus in 1795 by the German physician and naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch with ''Callionymus indicus'', which had been described in 1748 by Carl Linnaeus from "Asia", as its type species.<ref name = CofF/><ref name = CofF2/> This genus is classified within the family Playtcephalidae, the flatheads which the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies within the suborder Platycephaloidei in the order Scorpaeniformes.<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages= 467–495 |publisher=Wiley |isbn= 978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ }}</ref>
===Etymology=== The genus name ''Platycephalus'' means "flat head" an allusion to the wide flattened head of these fishes which leads to the English common name flathead.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/perciformes11/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 11): Suborder Platycephaloidei: Families Bembridae, Parabembridae, Hoplichthyidae, Platycephalidae and Plectrogeniidae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 7 December 2021 | access-date = 13 July 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>
===Species=== There are currently 19 recognised species in this genus:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Platycephalus | month = February | year = 2022}}</ref><ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus | genus = Platcephalus | access-date = 13 July 2022}}</ref> * ''Platycephalus angustus'' <small>Steindachner, 1866</small> (Steindachner's flathead) <ref name=Imamura2013>{{cite journal|last1=Imamura|first1=H|year=2013|title=Redescription of ''Platycephalus angustus'' Steindachner 1866 (Teleostei: Platycephalidae), a valid flathead in northern Australia and New Guinea|journal=Ichthyological Research|volume=60|issue=2|pages=112–121|doi=10.1007/s10228-012-0319-6|bibcode=2013IchtR..60..112I}}</ref> * ''Platycephalus aurimaculatus'' <small>L. W. Knapp, 1987</small> (Toothy flathead) * ''Platycephalus australis'' <small>Imamura, 2015</small> (Australian bartail flathead) <ref name=Imamura2015>{{cite journal|last1=Imamura|first1=H|year=2015|title=Taxonomic revision of the flathead fish genus ''Platycephalus'' Bloch, 1795 (Teleostei: Platycephalidae) from Australia, with description of a new species|journal=Zootaxa|volume=3904|issue=2|pages=151–207|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3904.2.1|pmid=25660779}}</ref> * ''Platycephalus bassensis'' <small>Cuvier, 1829</small> (Sand flathead) * ''Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus'' <small>McCulloch, 1922</small> (Blue-spotted flathead) * ''Platycephalus chauliodous'' <small>L. W. Knapp, 1991</small> (Big-tooth flathead) * ''Platycephalus conatus'' <small>Waite & McCulloch, 1915</small> (Deep-water flathead) * ''Platycephalus cultellatus'' <small>J. Richardson, 1846</small> * ''Platycephalus endrachtensis'' <small>Quoy & Gaimard, 1825</small> (Yellow-tail flathead) * ''Platycephalus fuscus'' <small>Cuvier, 1829</small> (Dusky flathead) * ''Platycephalus grandispinis'' <small>Cuvier, 1829</small> (Long-spined flathead) <ref>Imamura, H. (2013): Validity of ''Platycephalus grandispinis'' Cuvier, 1829, with Priority over ''Platycephalus longispinis'' Macleay, 1884 (Actinopterygii: Scorpaeniformes: Platycephalidae). ''Species Diversity, 18 (2): 183-192.''</ref> * ''Platycephalus indicus'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> (Bar-tail flathead) * ''Platycephalus laevigatus'' <small>Cuvier, 1829</small> (Black flathead) * ''Platycephalus marmoratus'' <small>Stead, 1908</small> (Marbled flathead) * ''Platycephalus micracanthus'' <small>Sauvage, 1873</small> * ''Platycephalus orbitalis'' <small>Imamura & L. W. Knapp, 2009</small> (Western Australian flathead) * ''Platycephalus richardsoni'' <small>Castelnau, 1872</small> (Tiger flathead) * ''Platycephalus speculator'' <small>Klunzinger, 1872</small> (Southern bluespotted flathead) * ''Platycephalus westraliae'' <small>(Whitley, 1938)</small>
==Characteristics== ''Platycephalus'' flatheads have no less than two spines on the preoperculum. with the lowerer spine being the longest. The upper lobe of the caudal fin does not have an elongated filament. They have between 7 and 10 spines in the first dorsal fin and more than 13 soft rays in the second dorsal fin. They are further separated by having a single band of vomerine teeth rather than two distinct patches.<ref name = FAO>{{cite book | editor1 =Carpenter, K.E. | editor2 = Niem, V.H. | title = 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) | publisher = FAO, Rome | year = 1999 | chapter = Platycephalidae Flatheads | author = L.W. Knapp | pages = 2385–2421 | isbn = 9251043019}}</ref> The largest species is ''P. fuscus'' with a maximum published total length of {{cvt|120|cm}} while the smallest is ''P. orbitalis'' with a maximum published total length of {{cvt|33.3|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase/>
==Distribution== ''Platycephalus'' flatheads are found in the Indo-West Pacific region, mostly around Australia where 16 of the 19 species in the genus are found.<ref name="Imamura2015" /> One species, the bartail flathead (''P. indicus''), has entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal as a Lessepsian migrant.<ref name = "Golani & Ben Tuvia 1990">{{cite journal | author1 = Daniel Golani | author2 = Adam Ben-Tuvia | name-list-style = & | year = 1990 | title = Two Red Sea Flatheads (Platycephalidae) Immigrants in the Mediterranean | journal = Cybium | volume = 14 | issue = 1 | pages = 57–61 | url = https://sfi-cybium.fr/en/node/2131}}</ref>
==References== {{Commonscat}} {{Reflist}}
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Category:Platycephalidae Category:Platycephalus Category:Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch