Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
flathead
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
bartail flathead (Platycephalus indicus) Hoplichthys langsdorfii Body plans of representative Scorpaeniformes.
Quizzes
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters
Animal Group Names
Lion (panthera leo)
Deadliest Animals Quiz
Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)
Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz
Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)
Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz
vulture. An adult bearded vulture at a raptor recovery center. The Gypaetus barbatus also known as the Lammergeier or Lammergeyer, is a bird of prey and considered an Old World vulture.
Animal Factoids
Related Questions
Read Next
animal. Amphibian. Frog. Anura. Ranidae. Frog in grass.
Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World
Spider monkey swinging in a tree. (primate, jungle animal)
Why Do Animals Have Tails?
Sea horse or Seahorse, Hippocampus. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata, Class: Actinopterygii, Order: Syngnathiformes, Family: Syngnathidae, Subfamily: Hippocampinae
9 Fish Named After Other Animals
Japanese spider crab
10 Animals With Evolutionary Traits Plucked Straight Out of a Nightmare
Malayan Leaf Frog - Megophrys nasuta
9 Animals That Look Like Leaves
Discover
Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that
America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)
Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
8 of the Largest Empires in History
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time
New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
bartail flathead (Platycephalus indicus)
bartail flathead (Platycephalus indicus) The bartail, or Indian, flathead (Platycephalus indicus) inhabits the equatorial waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

flathead

fish
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/animal/flathead-fish
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Also known as: Platycephalidae
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History

flathead, any of the flattened marine fishes of the families Platycephalidae, Bembridae, and Hoplichthyidae (order Scorpaeniformes), found in the Indo-Pacific and in tropical regions of the eastern Atlantic. Flatheads are elongated, large-mouthed fish with tapered bodies, two dorsal fins, and rough scales.

Hoplichthys langsdorfii
Hoplichthys langsdorfiiHoplichthys langsdorfii is a species of ghost flathead (family Hoplichthyidae) native to the waters of the northwest Pacific Ocean.

As their name indicates, the head, which is large and covered with ridges and spines, and the forward part of the body are flattened from top to bottom. The fish are carnivorous and generally live on the ocean bottom, buried beneath the surface. They are commercially valuable food fish and reach a maximum of about 1.3 metres (50 inches) and 15 kg (33 pounds).

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.