Species: Platax orbicularis, Orbicular spadefish, Orbicular batfish

Platax orbicularis (Forsskal, 1775)

Orbicular batfish

Body a highly compressed disc; head short, upper profile smoothly convex to dorsal fin rays; convex snout very short, blunt; margin of preopercle smooth in adults; chin with 5 pores on each side; mouth small, pointed, opens at front; teeth slender, tips broader, with 3 points, middle point longer and stronger than others; lower gill rakers 8-10; dorsal fin continuous, V-VI (spines not easily seen, gradually increasing in size towards rear), no notch, 34-39 rays; anal fin III, 25-29; front of soft dorsal and anal, and pelvics elongate; pectoral fins short, 16-19; pelvic fin  origin before pectoral base; tail with wavy rear edge; lateral line complete, 44-52 scales; scales small, finely rough, nearly all of space between eyes scaleless; shape changes dramatically with age, juveniles with very deep bodies greatly elongate dorsal, anal and pelvic fins.

Head and body silvery grey; body usually with a few scattered black spots; front of body with a broad dark bar; head with a narrow dark bar running through eye; edges of dorsal and anal fins broadly dark; sometimes  an indistinct dark bar on tail base extending onto soft dorsal and anal fins; dorsal, anal and tail fins grey to yellow. Juvenile: light reddish brown to brownish yellow; front of body with a broad dark bar, a narrow dark bar down head through eye.

Reaches 50 cm.

Young in sheltered bays and lagoons and mangroves; adults on reefs, singly or in small schools

Depth range 5-80 m.

Indo-central Pacific; introduced to Southeast Florida.