These appropriately named bottom-dwelling marine fish have a flat-triangular shaped head and long tapering body with reddish-brown flecks. Wild-caught, they are found mainly on sand in bays and estuaries, but also on the continental shelf to depths of about 100m, and are caught off southern Australia, primarily southern NSW and Victoria, by trawling, gillnets, Danish seine nets and beach seine nets.
It is endemic to Australia and looks very similar to Longspine Flathead, which can be distinguished by a pale blue lower tail fin, and to northern sand flathead which is lighter in colour.