Batfish batfish
A collective term for the species of batfish in the order Oncodephalida.
It is a tropical warm water inshore or offshore small stratigraphic fish.
There are 62 species in 9 genera and 10 species in 4 genera produced in China.
The body length is 60 to 150 mm, and the large one can reach more than 300 mm.
The body is flattened and the tail is stubby and short. The head is flattened.
The snout is short or prominent, and the snout spines are either with or without.
The eyes are large or small. The mouth is small, anterior or subanthobe, horizontal.
The upper and lower jaws have villous tooth bands, and the plow and palate teeth have or may not be.
The gill foramen are small and located on the dorsal side of the inner part of the base of the pectoral fin. 2 or 2.5 gills. The first gill bow has no gill filament. No false gills.
The body is generally scaleless and densely covered with granular bone protrusions or spikes of varying sizes.
The first spine of the dorsal fin forms an underdeveloped kissing tentacle, often hidden in the snout fossa; the second dorsal fin is large or tiny, with 3 to 5 unbranched fins, a certain distance from the gill hole, located on the dorsal side of the caudal fin, or the second dorsal fin is small; the fin is located below the posterior end of the dorsal fin; the pectoral fin has a 3-fin basal bone, forming a prosthetic arm; the ventral fin throat; the posterior edge of the caudal fin is rounded or truncated. Swimming ability is poor, often crawling on the seabed with arm-like pectoral and ventral fins.
Most live in the deep sea, and some live in shallow water.
The Warm Sea region of the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean is produced; the Indo-Western Pacific coast is the most, followed by the Caribbean Sea in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
It is found in the southern part of the East China Sea, the South China Sea Islands and the coast of Taiwan. The yield is small, there is no edible value, and more fertilizer is used.
Excerpt from: The Encyclopedia of China (2nd Edition), Volume 2, Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, 2009