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Cnidoglanis macrocephalus  (Valenciennes, 1840)

Estuary cobbler
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2100
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Cnidoglanis macrocephalus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Cnidoglanis macrocephalus (Estuary cobbler)
Cnidoglanis macrocephalus
Picture by Banks, I.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Siluriformes (Catfish) > Plotosidae (Eeltail catfishes)
Etymology: Cnidoglanis: Greek, knide = nettle + Greek, glanis = a fish that can eat the bait without touching the hook; a cat fish (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; depth range 1 - 30 m (Ref. 6390).   Temperate, preferred ?; 28°S - 37°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: endemic to Australia. Present along both eastern and western Australian coasts, from Kirra in southern Queensland to Jervis Bay in New South Wales, and from Kingston in South Australia to the Houtman Abrolhos in Western Australia. Distributional range extension to the Duck River in Tasmania (Ref. 7300) needs verification.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 41 - ? cm
Max length : 91.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 33840); max. published weight: 2.5 kg (Ref. 6390); max. reported age: 13 years (Ref. 6390)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 105-134; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 95 - 112; Vertebrae: 77 - 78

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

An inshore marine species which lives in shallow bays and sandy inlets near river mouths (Ref. 2156). Found most frequently over sand, rocks and weeds in clear to turbid waters. By day, cobblers are most often found in holes and on ledges in banks (Ref. 6390). They are opportunistic feeders, primarily feeding at night. Food consists of bivalve and univalve mollusks, crustaceans (small prawns and amphipods), polychaete worms, algae and organic debris (Ref. 26551). Juveniles eat more crustaceans, often from among drifting macrophytic algae (Ref. 26548). Adults feed mainly on mollusks and polychaetes (Ref. 6390). They are prey to birds such as cormorants and pelicans (Ref. 26548). Presence of sharp spines on the dorsal and pectoral fins can inflict painful wounds (Ref. 2156).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Males guard the eggs between their pelvic fins for an unknown period in the nest which the male have constructed. The drift weeds found in inshore marine waters, protected inshore marine environments and estuaries act as nursery areas. Cobbler enter these areas during their first year of life and often remain there for long periods (Refs. 26548, 26549).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Paxton, J.R., D.F. Hoese, G.R. Allen and J.E. Hanley, 1989. Pisces. Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Vol. 7. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 665 p. (Ref. 7300)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Venomous (Ref. 2156)




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishes of Iran | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00457 (0.00197 - 0.01063), b=3.07 (2.86 - 3.28), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  2.8   ±0.32 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=2-3; tmax=13; Fec=300).
Prior r = 0.46, 2 SD range = 0.24 - 0.90, log(r) = -0.78, SD log(r) = 0.34, Based on: 1 K, 4 tgen, 1 tmax, 2 Fec records
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (54 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.