Family Bembridae
Taxonomy: Bembridae contains only a single genus, Bembras (Imamura, 1996) containing about 10 species (Nelson, 2006), of which 3 occur in Australia (Hoese et al., 2006).
Distribution, ecology and habitat: Demersal on the continental shelf and upper slope from about 80-580 m. Occurs widely in the Indo-west Pacific, from the western Indian Ocean to Japan and southward through Indonesia to Australia.
Characteristics:
Small fishes with large, depressed head and long, slender, subcylindrical body bearing mostly ctenoid scales, some cycloid scales ventrally; pelvic fins below pectoral base. Lower jaw slightly subterminal when mouth closed. Iris lappet absent; ocular and interopercular flaps absent; posttemporal with a strong spine posteriorly, and a smaller spine laterally; preorbital spine absent; preocular spine sharp; a strong postocular spine; opercle with two moderate spines, each with a distinct ridge lacking serrations; distinct spine posteroventrally on subopercle; eye moderately large, about 27% of head length. Teeth on jaws and palatines small, canine, distributed in bands; teeth on vomer in a V-shape patch. Number of oblique scale rows slanting downward and backward above lateral-line scales roughly equal to number of lateral line scales; origin of first dorsal fin behind posterior margin of opercle; first spine of first dorsal fin broadly attached to second spine; second dorsal fin separated from first by narrow interspace; second dorsal fin bearing a spine anteriorly; anal fin lacking spines; pelvic fin not reaching beyond cloaca; rear margin of caudal fin slightly concave.
Size: Reaching about 30 cm TL.
Reproduction and early life history: Little is known of the biology, reproduction or early life history.
Fisheries: May be taken incidentally in trawl fisheries, and possibly utilised commercially.
Australian species:
- Bembras longipinnis Imamura & Knapp, 1998 Longfin Flathead CAAB 37296026
- Bembras macrolepis Imamura, 1998 Bigscale Flathead CAAB 37296048
- Bembras megacephala Imamura & Knapp, 1998 Greenspotted Flathead CAAB 37296049
References:
Eschmeyer, W.N. (2008) The Catalogue of Fishes on-line. (California Academy of Sciences: San Francisco) Available from: http://www.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp (12 June, 2008).
Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & Allen, G.R. (2006) Fishes. In: P.L. Beesley & A. Wells (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia Volume 35. Parts 1-3. Australian Biological Resources Study and CSIRO Publishing, 2248 pp.
Imamura, H. (1996) Phylogeny of the family Platycephalidae and related taxa (Pisces: Scorpaeniformes). Species Diversity 1(2): 123-233.
Imamura, H. & Knapp, L. W. (1998) Review of the genus Bembras Cuvier, 1829 (Scorpaeniformes: Bembridae) with description of three new species collected from Australia and Indonesia. Ichth. Res. 45(2): 165-178.