Platax pinnatus
Shaded batfish | Batfish | Dusky Batfish | Leaf-fish | Long-finned Batfish | Longfin Batfish | Pinnate Batfish | Pinnate Spadefish | Spadefish | Turbot
Platax pinnatus, QLD, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Platax pinnatus, juvenile, QLD, Australia, Photo: Graham Edgar
Platax pinnatus, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Andrew Green
Platax pinnatus, QLD, Australia, Photo: Graham Edgar
Platax pinnatus, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Andrew Green
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Silvery body with a concave head profile which it retains throughout life, whereas the highly similar P. orbicularis (Round Batfish) becomes more convex over eye with increasing size, dorsal fin also more angular at larger sizes. Dark band through eye, second dark band over pectoral fin base. Juveniles black with bright orange margin around body and fins, fins extremely high and curved in small individuals. Adults usually solitary, over steep outer reef slopes, juveniles in mangroves and sheltered reefs.
Information
Max Size: 45 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22.7-31.4°C
Depth: 1-30m
Habitat Generalization Index: 2.51
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Infrequent (7.2% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Few (2 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields