Oder Scorpaeniformes Family Platycephalidae(Flatheads). Japanese flathead Inegocia japonica(G. Cuvier, 1829). max length/35.0 cm TL, common length/20.0 cm TL Korean name/jeom-yang-tae(점양태) Japanese name/トカゲゴチ(Tokagegochi) Chinese name/日本牛尾魚(일본우미어) D1/spines I+VIII, D2/soft rays 11-13. A/soft rays 11-13. Pectoral fin/19~21. Pelvic fin/I, 5. LLp/51-55.
Distribution; Indo-West Pacific/south of central Korea, southern Japan, South China Sea, the Philippines, Gulf of Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Arafura Sea Australia, Western Australia to Moreton Bay, Queensland. General; Inegocia japonica was first formally described as Platycephalus japonicus in 1829 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier. Then in the 2010s, the genus name was changed and the scientific name became Inegocia japonica. Japanese flathead is a representative English name and is also called rusty flathead or smooth flathead.
It has an elongated and moderately flattened body with large, flattened head. It has many bony ridges and serrated spines on its head. The ridge above the eye has two sharp spines, one in front and one behind. Suborbital ridge usually smooth except for two spines under eye. There is a long flap between the eyes. Both jaws with bands of villiform teeth. The operculum has two smooth ridges, one below and one above, both ending in sharp spines. The preoperculum has three spines and the top one is shorter, but not significantly shorter than the lower two. The first spine of first dorsal fin is very short and may be detached or be connected to the second spine by membrane. The scales are small and deciduous. The lateral line is straight. The first three or four scales of the lateral line have small spines.
Body coloration is light brown dorsally and yellowish white ventrally with six indistinct dark vertical bands on upper body side. The head is scattered with small dark spots. The dorsal and pectoral fins have transparent fin membranes, but the fin rays are lined with small dark spots. The caudal fin is rounded and with numerous variable sized dark spots. This is a demersal species found on sandy and muddy substrates in bays and coastal waters at depths between 5 and 85 m. Inegocia japonica is thought to feed largely on other fishes. Inegocia japonica is taken as bycatch in trawl fisheries.
This species is a protandrous hermaphrodite, the larger males change sex to become female. They are reported to have overlapping home ranges and a promiscuous mating system.
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