Craterocephalus cuneiceps
Species Summary
One of the more southerly and least-known Western Australian hardyheads, Craterocephalus cuneiceps has been the subject of a year-long field study on the Murchison River, WA, examining its age and growth, feeding ecology and spawning biology.
Etymology
The species name combines the Latin cuneus, wedge, and cephalus, head, describing the fish’s flattened head, which tapers toward the underside in a wedge-like profile.
Etymology compiled from C. Scharpf (2020), “Fishes of Sahul: An Etymological Survey (Part 3)”, Fishes of Sahul 34(2): 1568–1582, and etyfish.org.
Distribution & Biology
The Murchison River study found that Craterocephalus cuneiceps spawns in pulses tied to seasonal flooding, and, somewhat unusually, that adults will cannibalise their own larvae given the chance — a reminder that even a modest, plainly coloured hardyhead can have a genuinely interesting life history once someone looks closely.
Compiled for Home of the Rainbowfish from ANGFA sources: M. Allen, “Craterocephalus cuneiceps”, reprinted from ANGFA (WA) Newsletter Melanotaenia, December 2002, via In-Stream 12(4), August 2003, pp. 21–22.