Ecology Summary - Platycephalus fuscus

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Main Ref.	Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Remarks	Dusky flathead generally inhabit shallow bays and inlets and can be found in estuaries as far as tidal limits (Ref. 27246); they often invade freshwater. They occur over mud, silt gravel, sand and seagrass (mainly Zostera species) beds from intertidal areas to depths of 10 m in Queensland and to 30 m in southern New South Wales (Ref. 27112). Small juveniles less than 12 cm TL first appear in coastal bays 1-2 months after spawning. They mainly inhabit shallow mangrove and mud flats and seagrass beds (Ref. 27246, 27245). They are usually solitary but may form loose aggregations (Ref. 2165, 27247). Feed on small fish, crabs, prawns, small crustaceans. octopus, squid and polychaete worms. They have spines on the outer edges of their head which can inflict nasty cuts during handling (pers. comm., Bernard Moss, 2001).

Main Ref.

Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993

Remarks

Dusky flathead generally inhabit shallow bays and inlets and can be found in estuaries as far as tidal limits (Ref. 27246); they often invade freshwater. They occur over mud, silt gravel, sand and seagrass (mainly Zostera species) beds from intertidal areas to depths of 10 m in Queensland and to 30 m in southern New South Wales (Ref. 27112). Small juveniles less than 12 cm TL first appear in coastal bays 1-2 months after spawning. They mainly inhabit shallow mangrove and mud flats and seagrass beds (Ref. 27246, 27245). They are usually solitary but may form loose aggregations (Ref. 2165, 27247). Feed on small fish, crabs, prawns, small crustaceans. octopus, squid and polychaete worms. They have spines on the outer edges of their head which can inflict nasty cuts during handling (pers. comm., Bernard Moss, 2001).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Platycephalus fuscus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	Benthic; Soft Bottom: sand; silt; Hard Bottom;
Substrate Ref.	Hoese, D.F., D.J. Bray, J.R. Paxton and G.R. Allen, 2006
Special habitats	Beds: sea grass;
Special habitats Ref.

Associations

Ref.
Associations
Associated with
Association remarks
Parasitism

Feeding

Feeding type	mainly animals (troph. 2.8 and up)
Feeding type Ref.	Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993
Feeding habit	hunting macrofauna (predator)
Feeding habit Ref.	Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	Original sample		Unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition
From individual food items	4.06	0.52			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.

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