| Family: |
Dactylopteridae (Flying gurnards) |
| Max. size: |
40 cm TL (male/unsexed) |
| Environment: |
reef-associated; marine; depth range 1 - 100 m |
| Distribution: |
Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the Hawaiian, Marquesan and Tuamoto islands, north to southern Japan and the Ogasawara Islands, south to Australia and New Zealand. |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal spines (total): 7-7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9-9; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 6-7. Heavily armored box-like body and wing-like pectoral fins (Ref. 37816).
Description: Characterized by greyish to light brown color with large dark-edged brown spots on back and upper sides; numerous dark-edged brown or orange spots and wavy blue lines on pectoral fins; depth of body 5.1-6.6 in SL; interorbital width 13-15% of SL; wing-like pectoral fins with short filamentous extensions of each ray along outer margin (Ref. 90102). |
| Biology: |
Inhabit coastal waters with sandy substrates (Ref. 1602, 48635); a shallow-living species, benthic in adults; only species found in oceanic islands (Ref. 27821). Solitary, well-camouflaged and slow-moving (Ref. 37816, 48635). Feed on crustaceans, clams, and small fish. May be caught using ring nets (Ref. 5213). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 02 March 2015 Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
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