Callionymidae
Small benthic fish with colorful patterns and elongated fins.
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Callionymidae, commonly known as dragonets, are a family of fish in the order Perciformes.[1] Their bodies are elongated and scaleless, and they possess a large preopercular spine that is venomous in some species.[2] Dragonets are often very colorful with cryptic patterns, and the family includes species ranging from 2 cm to 30 cm in length.[2][1]
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassActinopterygii
- DivisionTeleostei
- OrderSyngnathiformes
- FamilyCallionymidae
Named by Bonaparte, 1831
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Dragonet (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quick Facts
- Type species
- Callionymus lyra
Facts from the source article.
Biology and range
Dragonets are mainly found in tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific, down to depths of roughly 200 meters, preferring rocky or sandy bottoms.[1] Dragonets extend their highly protractible jaws to draw in food, often expelling sand afterward.[3] The ascent occurs in two phases, with a rest of about five seconds between them.[4] Eggs are pelagic, buoyant, and released singly for about five seconds; dragonets do not guard their offspring.[5][1]
Male dragonets are highly territorial towards each other and form dominance hierarchies, often chasing and biting rivals.[1][6] The reproductive process in dragonets takes place in the late afternoon and consists of four distinct steps: showing off by the male, forming a couple, moving upward, and ejecting eggs and sperm.[7] A bonded male and female rise together between 0.7 and 1.2 meters from the seabed, traveling in a half-circle pattern by rowing with their pectoral fins.[8] A single male mates with multiple females over the course of one breeding day, as males are polygynous.[4]
What the specialist sources record
The Aquatic Community account notes that dragonets are sometimes called gobies but are not true gobies, as they do not belong to Gobiidae.[1] The same source states that many dragonets are finicky eaters that will only eat live food in aquariums, and that some have starved rather than accept dead food.[1] GBIF records 395,290 occurrence records for Callionymidae as of October 2026.[9] The World Register of Marine Species lists Callionymidae as accepted in the order Callionymiformes, class Teleostei, with a marine, brackish, and freshwater environment.[10]
The Aquatic Community account reports that the largest known dragonet is Callionymus gardineri at 30 cm, and the smallest is Callionymus sanctaehelenae at 2 cm.[1]
References
- "Dragonets", Aquatic Community. facts only, no text reused. aquaticcommunity.com
- Wikipedia, "Dragonet" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dragonet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Harrington, "Behavior patterns and sexual dimorphism in the spotted dragonet, Diplogrammus pauciradiatus (Pisces: Callionymidae)", Bulletin of Marine Science, 1997, p. 872–893 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dragonet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Takita, "Maturation and spawning of the dragonet, Callionymus enneactis, in an aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 1983, p. 221–226 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dragonet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Takita, "Maturation and spawning of the dragonet, Callionymus enneactis, in an aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 1983, p. 221–226; Takita, "Maturation and spawning of the dragonet, Callionymus enneactis, in an aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 1983, p. 221–226; Takita, "Maturation and spawning of the dragonet, Callionymus enneactis, in an aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 1983, p. 221–226; Takita, "Maturation and spawning of the dragonet, Callionymus enneactis, in an aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 198 en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dragonet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gonzales, "Spawning behavior of laboratory-reared dragonet, Repomucenus huguenini, and development of its eggs and prolarvae", Aquaculture Science, 1996, p. 7–15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dragonet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Takita, "Spawning behavior of the two dragonets, Callionymus flagris and C. richardsoni, in the aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 22 March 1979, p. 282–288; Takita, "Spawning behavior of the two dragonets, Callionymus flagris and C. richardsoni, in the aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 22 March 1979, p. 282–288 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dragonet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Takita, "Maturation and spawning of the dragonet, Callionymus enneactis, in an aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 1983, p. 221–226; Takita, "Maturation and spawning of the dragonet, Callionymus enneactis, in an aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 1983, p. 221–226; Takita, "Maturation and spawning of the dragonet, Callionymus enneactis, in an aquarium", Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 1983, p. 221–226 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Callionymidae (taxon key 8511). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
- World Register of Marine Species, Callionymidae (AphiaID 125522). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Dragonet (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Dragonets
Elsewhere in Frogfish and Dragonets
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Dragonet (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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