Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; depth range 50 - 400 m (Ref. 11230). Tropical
Indo-West Pacific: widespread with confirmed range from Western Australia to French Polynesia and from southern Japan to northern New Zealand. Specimens recorded from the Indian Ocean may represent an undescribed species.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2272)
Dorsal soft rays (total): 4 - 5. This species is distinguished by having a rounded body disc which is slightly wider than long; strongly pointed tubercles on dorsal surface and body margins; interspaces of entire body covered with tiny spinules; reddish body with short vermiculate pattern on dorsal surface (Ref. 92977).
Cross section: flattened.
Found in the shelf and shelf edge (Ref. 11230). Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Ho, H.-C., C.D. Roberts and K.-T. Shao, 2013. Revision of batfishes (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae) of New Zealand and adjacent waters, with description of two new species of the genus Malthopsis. Zootaxa 3626(1):188-200. (Ref. 92977)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: bycatch
Tools
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