The
tentacled flathead (
Papilloculiceps longiceps) is a species of marine fish belonging to the flathead family,
Platycephalidae. It is found in the western Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea, and also in the Mediterranean Sea, probably as a result of
migration through the Suez Canal. The tentacled flathead is a well camouflaged,
ambush predator of fish and crustaceans, living near coral reefs on sand or rubble substrates at depths of up to 15 metres (49 feet). The species has an elongate body, with a maximum published length of 70 centimetres (28 inches), although 50 centimetres (20 inches) is more typical. It has a depressed head with five prominent
nuchal spines, ridges on its
operculum and preoperculum, a spine on the rear of the suborbital ridge, and smaller spines elsewhere. The body is mottled brownish or greenish dorsally, and whitish ventrally. There are three or four dark bands on the
caudal fin, and the other fins are marked with large, dark blotches. This tentacled flathead was photographed in the Red Sea in
Ras Muhammad National Park, off the southern coast of the
Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
Photograph credit: Diego Delso
