Common Name: Tasselsnout Flathead

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific region: endemic to Australia. Recorded from southern Queensland around the south of the continent to around Exmouth in Western Australia. Not recorded from Victoria or Tasmania.

Ecological Notes: Frequent inshore waters and reef areas, among rocky and weedy areas with sand patches. Depth 0 – 35 m.

Additional Notes: Colouration variable from purple to pale brown with darker saddle like markings. Head comprises large percentage of the total body length. Processes over eye believed to break up reflection and an aid to camouflage. Grows to 38 cm.

References: Kuiter, R. H., Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Published by Crawford House Press Pty. Ltd., 1993. p.101.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Thysanophrys+cirronasa. Accessed 11/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Thysanophrys-cirronasa.html. Accessed 11/07/18.

ABRS Australian Faunal Directory, https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Thysanophrys_cirronasus. Accessed 11/07/18.