short dragonfish
Eurypegasus draconis (Linnaeus, 1766)
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 little dragonfish or short dragonfish (Eurypegasus draconis) is a species of marine ray-finned fish in the family Pegasidae. It is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea.
The little dragonfish can grow up to 10 cm (3.9 in) length. It sheds its skin in one piece. Millions of these kind of fish are sold for traditional medicine each year in China and Hong Kong alone.
Wikipedia contributors, Little dragonfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:01:19.035308+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Eurypegasus draconis (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Common name
- short dragonfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Dactylopteriformes
- Family
- Pegasidae
- Genus
- Eurypegasus
- 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
- orderDactylopteriformes
- familyPegasidae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusEurypegasus Bleeker, 1863
- speciesEurypegasus draconis (Linnaeus, 1766)
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 |
|---|---|
| Europegasus draconis (Linnaeus, 1766) (Linnaeus, 1766) | synonym |
| Zalises draconis (Linnaeus, 1766) (Linnaeus, 1766) | synonym |
| Zalises umitengu Jordan & Snyder, 1901 Jordan & Snyder, 1901 | synonym |
| Cataphractus draco Gronow, 1854 Gronow, 1854 | synonym |
| Pegasus latirostris Richardson, 1846 Richardson, 1846 | synonym |
| Pegasus pauciradiatus Ogilby, 1886 Ogilby, 1886 | synonym |
| Surypegasus draconis (Linnaeus, 1766) (Linnaeus, 1766) | synonym |
| Pegassus draco Shaw, 1804 Shaw, 1804 | synonym |
| Pegasus umitengu (Jordan & Snyder, 1901) (Jordan & Snyder, 1901) | synonym |
| Pegasus draco Shaw, 1804 Shaw, 1804 | synonym |
| Pegasus draconis Linnaeus, 1766 Linnaeus, 1766 | 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=218161 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:6HFSK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.