Indian flathead
Platycephalus indicus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The bartail flathead (Platycephalus indicus), also known as the Indian flathead, gobi or Indo-Pacific flathead, is a species of largely marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalidae, the flatheads. This species is found in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific Ocean, and has invaded the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Wikipedia contributors, Bartail flathead; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:02:29.386796+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Platycephalus indicus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Indian flathead
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Platycephalidae
- Genus
- Platycephalus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderScorpaenoidei
- familyPlatycephalidae Swainson, 1839
- genusPlatycephalus Bloch, 1795
- speciesPlatycephalus indicus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Platycephalus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Platycephalus aurimaculatus Knapp, 1987 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus bassensis Cuvier, 1829 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus cultellatus Richardson, 1846 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus endrachtensis Quoy & Gaimard, 1825 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus fuscus Cuvier, 1829 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus grandispinis Cuvier, 1829 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus laevigatus Cuvier, 1829 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus conatus Waite & McCulloch, 1915 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus australis Imamura, 2015 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus maxwelli Schwarzhans, 1980 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus McCulloch, 1922 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Platycephalus chauliodous Knapp, 1991 | PlatycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Platycephalus insidiator (Forsskål, 1775) (Forsskål, 1775) | synonym |
| Callionymus indicus Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Cottus insidiator Forsskål, 1775 Forsskål, 1775 | synonym |
| Cottus madagascariensis Lacepède, 1801 Lacepède, 1801 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=127234 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4JP4M. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.