Fishes - Australian Museum Fish Site

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Panther Flounder
Bothus pantherinus Rüppell, 1828

Panther Flounder
A Panther Flounder at a depth of 2.4m, Red Rock Estuary, January 2002. View larger image.
Panther Flounder - head
Head of the fish in the top image. View larger image.

The Panther Flounder is brown with a pattern resembling small flowers made up of dark spots surrounded by pale spots. There are also numerous orange spots and usually a singe dark blotch on the straight portion of the lateral line.

This species grows to 30cm in length.

It is usually found in sand and silt areas associated with coral reefs.

The Panther Flounder is known from the Indo-West and Central Pacific.

In Australia it is recorded from south-western Western Australia to north-western Western Australia and from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland to the central coast of New South Wales.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

Further reading

  1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
  2. Allen, G.R. & R. Swainston. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 201.
  3. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
  4. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
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