Taxonomy & naming
Hephaestus habbemai was described by Weber in 1910 from the Lorentz River in New Guinea, and the parentheses around the authority show that it was first placed in another genus. It sits in Terapontidae, the grunters, in the genus Hephaestus, whose species occur in New Guinea and northern Australia. Stores list it under its scientific name.
Morphology
FishBase gives a maximum of 6 in SL. The body is robust and perch-like with the typical grunter profile, an elongate form with a sloping head and a strongly spined dorsal fin.
Habitat
FishBase classes the species as freshwater, demersal and tropical, between 4 and 7 degrees south. Adults live over cobble and gravel bottoms in streams and in deep pools below rapids and waterfalls. It is recorded from New Guinea only.
Feeding
Diet is not recorded in the FishBase entry. Related Hephaestus take insects, crustaceans and small fishes from the bottom.
Mating
Courtship has not been described beyond the parental care recorded under breeding.
Breeding
FishBase records that the male guards and fans the eggs. Clutch size, egg size and incubation time are not recorded.
In the aquarium
The species is traded occasionally as a New Guinea oddball. Bottom-living and flow-adapted, it needs a roomy tank with rock and cobble, strong water movement and good filtration, and it should not be housed with fishes small enough to swallow. Temperature and pH ranges are not recorded.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assessed Hephaestus habbemai as Least Concern in 2020.