Strange Looking Fish!?

[Luringbream]

I was deep jigging some zoom softplastics in around 80-90ft of water and i hooked up solid to this strange looking fish. At first it resembled a red rock cod but as i swung it into the boat i noticed its "flat head" and i stopped and thought WTF!

Here he is..

[

Bad pic sorry..Heres another of his colour allround

DAN

Edited May 6, 2007 by Luringbream

[Penguin]

That looks like a Flatty that has had someone step on its snout.

Looks strange alright.

penguin

[bobfish]

Hmmmmmm, very strange indeed. Its a bit pre-historic lookin isnit?

Edited May 6, 2007 by bobfish

[james1990]

im thinkin cross breed

cheers james

[Luringbream]

New species perhaps..do i get to name it??

DAN

Edited May 6, 2007 by Luringbream

[james1990]

What name did you have in mind dan?

cheers james

[bobfish]

What name did you have in mind dan?

cheers james

This should be interesting....

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

Rockhead , what else ???,

Mick

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

Any relation to the " Luna Park Gropers " ???.

Mick

[Flattieman]

My first thoughts are fringe-eye flathead, tasslesnout flathead of crocodilefish, but I'll do my research and get back on this topic. Thanks for sharing, Luringbream!

Flattieman.

[Luringbream]

G`day Fellas ,

Rockhead , what else ???,

Mick

Thats a good one!

Flatred cod or Flat cocck cod! I TOTALLY suck at this!

Any more?

its actually a luna bay flathead and im not joking i caught a few on plastic

I googled luna bay flathead up and came up with nothing. I also looked through the fish base for luna bay flathead for zilch. Do you have a pic of a luna bay flathead? And in what depth and what substrate were you fishing? This one was caught in HEAVY reef country in around 25-20m of water.

DAN

Edited May 6, 2007 by Luringbream

[TheDiko]

It's a Crocodilefish, a species of the Flathead

http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfact.../cbeauforti.htm

[Luringbream]

My first thoughts are fringe-eye flathead, tasslesnout flathead of crocodilefish, but I'll do my research and get back on this topic. Thanks for sharing, Luringbream!

Flattieman.

Thanks for the info flattieman. I've looked long and hard and i believe it to be some sort of or similar to a fringe-eyed or crocodile fish but am yet to find an exact replica of it.

Tusslesnout - The colouration of the Tasselsnout Flathead is highly variable from pale brown to purple with darker saddles and markings

Fringe eyed - This species is usually dark grey-green above and pale below

Based on colour we can rule the first two out, however there are many other variables to take into account.

Havnt found too much on the crocodile fish although most look to be browish/bronzish in the pics. One thing i noticed about this fish is that it didnt have spines with a sharp point, they were rather tubish looking? ?

It's a Crocodilefish, a species of the Flathead

As mentioned above, i havnt found an exact replica of the fish yet, that crocodile fish looks dark brownish in colour whereas my fish was red all over, it had the same pattern as a red rod cod.

DAN

[Penguin]

Crocfish looks spot on for mine.

penguin

[arpie]

Well done finding that IFS!! Had you heard of it or seen one before?? Or did you have to troll thru lots of photos to find it?? I must look in my Grants!! Nup - not there under scientific name or common name!

Cheers

Roberta

[Blackfish]

See a couple caught in Sydney and called them a Rock Flathead as well.

Thysanophrys cirronasus.

Got a photo of my Mates one somewhere as well .. now where is it ??

B.F.

Edited May 6, 2007 by Blackfish

[TheDiko]

Well done finding that IFS!! Had you heard of it or seen one before?? Or did you have to troll thru lots of photos to find it?? I must look in my Grants!! Nup - not there under scientific name or common name!

Cheers

Roberta

Yes I had seen it before, I went to the sight and knew I was looking for the Crocodilefish.

Remembered, for obvious reasons, because it was the closest looking fish I've seen to a real Croc.

IFS

[Flattieman]

Hmm... I still haven't found anything closer than the Crocodilefish (Cymbacephalus beauforti) since my last suggestion, Luringbream.

Flattieman.

Edited May 7, 2007 by Flattieman

[Jaybee]

Hey Flattieman,

I would say a Tassel Snouted Flathead for sure. I spoke to a mate of mine who used to be a pro fisherman years ago and he said that they used to catch them from time to time outside on gravel and sand reefs. Just as good as any other flathead to eat.

Yeh Blackfish, the Rock Flathead is another species again.

Cheers

Jeff

[Blackfish]

Try "Coastal Fishes of South- Eastern Australia" Rudie H Kuiter

I still think it could be Rock or Tasselsnout Flathead (Thysanophrys cirronasa) they both seem to be the same Tec name,

whereabouts theCrocodilefish (Cymbacephalus beauforti) seems to occur from the Philippines to New Caledonia.

I am more than happy to be wrong , I find this interesting.

Regards B.F.

[Flattieman]

Fair points, fellas. Could be any of the three or four aforementioned species - that's why I listed three with my first post - with flatties, it's VERY difficult to distinguish between closely-related species. The Kuiter book is a pretty good reference, Blackfish.

Flattieman.

Edited May 7, 2007 by Flattieman

[Luringbream]

You guys all raise very good points. However, im still stuck for coulour? This one was RED, the colour of a red rock cod with odd black and white spots(the colour doesnt show too much in the pics). No doubt i believe it to be one of the 4 species mentioned however i'm yet to see an identical species in terms of colour.

I picked up on the crocodile fish ranging from the phillipines to new caledonia so that may be another to rule out however its not the first time i've caught fish species which dont habitat in NSW.

DAN

[Jaybee]

Yeh I've got Sea Fishes of Southern Australia here, I think its a 1999 publish. Under Tassel-Snouted Flathead it reads this.

Inhabits sandy bottoms in reef and weed areas of Australia's southern half (exept Tas). Base colour variable, including white, brown, orange, red and purple. Best recognised by the prominent spines on top of the head and the dark band along rear margin of the first dorsal fin. Bushy tenticle occasionally present on eye. Found NSW from Newcastle, Vic, SA to WA. Max. length 38 cm.

How does that sound Dan?

Cheers

Jeff

Edited May 8, 2007 by Jaybee

[Luringbream]

Yeh I've got Sea Fishes of Southern Australia here, I think its a 1999 publish. Under Tassel-Snouted Flathead it reads this.

Inhabits sandy bottoms in reef and weed areas of Australia's southern half (exept Tas). Base colour variable, including white, brown, orange, red and purple. Best recognised by the prominent spines on top of the head and the dark band along rear margin of the first dorsal fin. Bushy tenticle occasionally present on eye. Found NSW from Newcastle, Vic, SA to WA. Max. length 38 cm.

How does that sound Dan?

Cheers

Jeff

Great info Jeff, it certainly throws a spanner in the works..With the spines on the top of its head, did it go into anymore detail or show images, they didnt come to a point but rather they were covered by a tubish shape.

However thats probably the best description yet, might even have to settle for that. A Tassel-Snouted Flathead.

Thanks

DAN

DAN

[Jaybee]

Yeh Dan and Flattieman,

I'm "pretty" positive cos like I said my mate was a pro a few years back and knows his stuff. But like someone said in an earlier post we stand to be corrected however, I would be prepared to put a wager on it.

Pretty interesting topic though don't you think. I guess thats what "The Aquarium" is all about. I hope we can settle on and have closure on this one.

Cheers

Jeff

[Flattieman]

Pretty interesting topic though don't you think. I guess thats what "The Aquarium" is all about. I hope we can settle on and have closure on this one.

Yeah, Jeff. That's what I've seen as a real success of the Aquarium so far - the person asking the question always finds some "closure" eventually. Seems that Dan's quite happy with tasselsnout flathead (Thysanophrys cirronasa), so that's cause for us all to be happy! Here's a couple of pics:

From fishbase:

From the Australian Museum:

Flattieman.

Edited May 8, 2007 by Flattieman