PLATYCEPHALIDAE





Grammoplites scaber, 16.3 cm SL
(preserved specimen; photo by Koichi Shibukawa)


Grammoplites scaber
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Rough Flathead

D I-VIII or I-VII-I + 11-13 (usually 12); A 11-12 (usually 12); P1 19-22; P2 I, 5; LLp 51-55.

Body elongate. Head moderately depressed. Suborbital ridge with 4-5 spines. Eye without ocular flaps. Iris lappet simple and broad. Teeth on vomer in 2 separate patches. Interopercular flap absent. Cheek region lacking skinny sensory tubes. Lateral line scales with spine and single opening to exterior. Color: body and head brownish above, whitish below, with about 6 dark bands crossing dorsal surface in some, obscure or absent in others; 1st dorsal and pelvic fins dusky; 2nd dorsal fin with small dark spots; anal fin white or with a submarginal row of dark spots; caudal fin dusky, some with a row of dark spots along upper edge; pectoral fin spotted on upper half, dusky on lower. Size: maximum length about 30 cm, commonly to 20 cm. Distribution: Indo-West Pacific, including southern Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Gulf of Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and southern Philippines. Remarks: taken by trawls over mud and sand at depths about 55 m.