Eleutherochir opercularis (Valenciennes, 1837)
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
Eleutherochir is a monotypic genus of dragonets native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
It contains a single species, Eleutherochir opercularis, the flap-gilled dragonet which is distributed from Sri Lanka to the east coast of India through the Malay Archipelago to the Ryukyu Islands.
It can be found over shallow sandy and muddy substrates in the sea but has also been recorded entering the mouths of rivers and even to live in freshwater.
Wikipedia contributors, Eleutherochir; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:35:04.043714+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Eleutherochir opercularis (Valenciennes, 1837)
- Name authority
- (Valenciennes, 1837)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Callionymiformes
- Family
- Callionymidae
- Genus
- Eleutherochir
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCallionymiformes
- familyCallionymidae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusEleutherochir Bleeker, 1879
- speciesEleutherochir opercularis (Valenciennes, 1837)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Eleutherochir mccaddeni Fowler, 1941 Fowler, 1941 | synonym |
| Pogonymus goslinei Rao, 1976 Rao, 1976 | synonym |
| Callionymus opercularis Valenciennes, 1837 Valenciennes, 1837 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=280637 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:398WG. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.