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flying gurnard

Dactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Open encyclopedia reference

The flying gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans), also known as the helmet gurnard, is a species of Syngnathiformes fish belonging to the family Dactylopteridae. It is a bottom-dwelling fish that inhabits tropical to warm temperate waters on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is the only species in the genus Dactylopterus making it monotypic. Similar and related species from the genus Dactyloptena are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Wikipedia contributors, Flying gurnard; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:10:26.044553+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Dactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758)
Name authority
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name
flying gurnard
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Dactylopteriformes
Family
Dactylopteridae
Genus
Dactylopterus
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderDactylopteriformes
  11. familyDactylopteridae Gill, 1861
  12. genusDactylopterus Lacepède, 1801
  13. speciesDactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 3 records assigned to Dactylopteridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=127232 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:33WF6. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.