Platax teira
Roundface Batfish
©Anne Hoggett: Subadult Roundface Batfish at Snake Pit near Lizard Island. Note dark blotch above and behind the ventral fins and rounded head profile.
©Victor Huertas: An adult Platax teira on the exposed reef slope between Bird and South Islands, Lizard Island Group.
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Perciformes
Family
Ephippidae
Genus
Platax
Species
Platax teira
Colours
Distinguishing features
A large plate-shaped fish, silver grey to brownish with a dark vertical bar through the eye, another though the pectoral fin, and a distinctive dark blotch below the pectoral fin. Head is smoothly rounded, without a projecting beak. Pelvic fins vary from yellow to black. Dorsal and anal fins very elongate in juveniles.
Size
- Up to 70 cm (Length according to Allen and Erdmann (2012).)
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Similar taxa
-
Animalia:
Shortfin Batfish (species: Zabidius novemaculatus)
lacks a dark blotch near rear edge of pelvic fin -
Animalia:
Longfin Batfish (species: Platax pinnatus)
has a concave upper head profile and a distinct snout - Animalia: Round Batfish (species: Platax orbicularis)
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Web resources
References
References that assist with identification
- Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene (1990). Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii.