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TEIRA BATFISH FACTS |
Description
A broad, rounded and compressed body with short fins; juveniles have long dorsal and anal fins. Grey to silver in colour, with three broad vertical bands on the body which can be dark to pale. Pelvic fins yellow to black. Conspicuous black blotch below pectoral fin, and a smaller, sometimes less obvious, vertical streak at the origin of the anal fin. Large fish develop a hump on the head.
May be solitary or schooling. Feeds on algae, zooplankton and benthic invertebrates; they sometimes regularly attend feeding stations such as Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin.
Author credit: Michael Hammer / Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Habitat
Harbours, estuaries and reef, to depth of at least 20 m.
Food
Omnivore
Range
Northern Australia.
Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Actinopterygii | | Order: | Perciformes | | Family: | Ephippidae | | Genus: | Platax | | Species: | teira | | Common Name: | Teira Batfish |
Relatives in same Genus
Longfin Batfish (P. pinnatus)
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