You can sponsor this page

Dactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Flying gurnard
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Dactylopterus volitans   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Videos | Google image
Image of Dactylopterus volitans (Flying gurnard)
Dactylopterus volitans
Picture by Patzner, R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Dactylopteriformes (Flying gurnards) > Dactylopteridae (Flying gurnards)
Etymology: Dactylopterus: Greek, daktyleys, -eos = a kind of grey mullet + + Greek, pteron = fin (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 100 m (Ref. 26999). Subtropical; 52°N - 45°S, 98°W - 36°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: English Channel to Angola, including the Mediterranean, Madeira, and the Azores. Western Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951) to Massachusetts, USA and the Gulf of Mexico to Argentina.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 19.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 50.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6544); common length : 38.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); max. published weight: 1.8 kg (Ref. 4699)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 6. Pectoral fin very large and fan-like, with front 6 rays separated as small lobe (Ref. 26938).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found on sand, mud or over rocks in sandy areas, exploring the bottom with the free part of the pectoral fins (Ref. 6544). Feeds primarily on benthic crustaceans, especially crabs, clams and small fishes. Neither anterolateral glandural groove nor venom gland is present (Ref. 57406).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N. and L.J. Dempster, 1990. Dactylopteridae. p. 690-691. In J. C. Quero, J. C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post, and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 10782)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 29 January 2013

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 13.3 - 27.8, mean 23.9 °C (based on 1072 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01023 (0.00782 - 0.01340), b=2.97 (2.89 - 3.05), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 3.7 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 30.8 [13.6, 95.1] mg/100g; Iron = 0.647 [0.323, 1.546] mg/100g; Protein = 19.4 [17.9, 20.8] %; Omega3 = 0.361 [0.152, 1.044] g/100g; Selenium = 20.1 [9.0, 46.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 30.2 [9.0, 104.6] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.79 [0.52, 1.21] mg/100g (wet weight);