Platycephalus

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Platycephalus
Fossil range: Early Eocene to Present^[1]

an unidentified Platycephalid

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Scorpaeniformes
Family:	Platycephalidae
Genus:	Platycephalus Bloch, 1795

Species

See text.

Platycephalus is a genus of mostly-marine, bottom-dwelling fish in the family Platycephalidae.

1 Etymology and Taxonomic History
2 Species
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Etymology and Taxonomic History

The name of the genus, Platycephalus is derived from the Greek words for "flat" and "head". This quite literally describes the major morphological distinguishing characteristic of the members of the genus (and the family).

The term was first used by Bloch in 1795, even though some of its species like P. indicus's descriptions predate the genus' coinage.

The genus Platycephalus was also used to erroneously describe a species not closely related to the flathead family. The species once described as Platycephalus undecimalis is now properly classified as, Centropomus undecimalis, the common snook.

[edit] Species

Platycephalus Bloch, 1795. Type genus.
- Platycephalus arenarius Ramsay & Ogilby, 1886
- Platycephalus aurimaculatus Knapp, 1987
- Platycephalus bassensis Cuvier, 1829
- Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus McCulloch, 1922
- Platycephalus chauliodous Knapp, 1991
- Platycephalus conatus Waite & McCulloch, 1915
- Platycephalus cultellatus Richardson, 1846
- Platycephalus endrachtensis Quoy & Gaimard, 1825
- Platycephalus fuscus Cuvier, 1829
- Platycephalus indicus Linnaeus, 1758. Type species. Synonymous with P. spathula.
- Platycephalus laevigatus Cuvier, 1829
- Platycephalus longispinis Macleay, 1884
- Platycephalus marmoratus Stead, 1908
- Platycephalus micracanthus Sauvage, 1873
- Platycephalus richardsoni Castelnau, 1872
- Platycephalus speculator Klunzinger, 1872