Arrow dragonfish
Tactostoma macropus Bolin, 1939
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
Tactostoma macropus, the longfin dragonfish, is a species of barbeled dragonfish found in the Pacific Ocean down to depths of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). This species grows to a length of 34.3 centimetres (13.5 in) TL. This species is the only known species in the genus Tactostoma and belongs to the family Stomiidae, the barbeled dragonfishes. These fish are deep-sea pelagic predators and with 317 species of dragonfish they are one of the most speciated and most diverse deep-pelagic family of fish. With only 19 species off the coast of Northern America, Tactostoma macropus remains as one of the most commonly found Stomiidae in the Pacific Ocean. The first individual taken as a specimen was caught off Monterey Bay in California and stored in the Natural History Museum of Standford University. This individual was caught and described by Rolf L. Bolin in 1938 when he had an opportunity to join the California State Division of Fish and Game for deep plankton tows.
Wikipedia contributors, Tactostoma; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:59:19.068256+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tactostoma macropus Bolin, 1939
- Name authority
- Bolin, 1939
- Common name
- Arrow dragonfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Stomiiformes
- Family
- Stomiidae
- Genus
- Tactostoma
- 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
- orderStomiiformes
- familyStomiidae Bleeker, 1859
- subfamilyMelanostomiinae Parr, 1927
- genusTactostoma Bolin, 1939
- speciesTactostoma macropus Bolin, 1939
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 |
|---|---|
| Photonectops multipunctata Chapman, 1939 Chapman, 1939 | synonym |
| Tectosoma macropus Bolin, 1939 Bolin, 1939 | 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.
- Bolin, R. L. (1939). A new stomiatoid fish from California. Copeia, 1. 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:54GFZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.