Dragonets are small, percomorph, marine fish of the diverse family Callionymidae found mainly in the tropical waters of the western Indo-Pacific. They are benthic organisms, spending most of their time near the sandy bottoms, at a depth of roughly two hundred meters. There exist 139 species of the fish, in nineteen genera.
Charles Tate Regan FRS was a British ichthyologist, working mainly around the beginning of the 20th century. He did extensive work on fish classification schemes.
The Draconettidae, slope dragonets, are a small family of fish in the order Perciformes. They are found in temperate to tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Oceans. They are closely related to, and appear similar to, the fish of the Callionymidae. They are small fish, the largest species reaching 12 cm (4.7 in) long. Like the callionymids, they are bottom-dwelling fish, and usually sexually dimorphic.
Callionymus is a genus of dragonets found mostly in the Indian and Pacific oceans with a few species occurring in the Atlantic Ocean.
The starry dragonet is a species of dragonet native to the Indian Ocean where it is found at depths of around 40 metres (130 ft). It occasionally is found in the aquarium trade. It grows to a length of 7.5 centimetres (3.0 in) TL.
Callionymus africanus, the African deepwater dragonet, is a species of dragonet native to the western Indian Ocean where it occurs at depths of from 178 to 220 metres off Kenya and Zanzibar and over the Chain Ridge seamount.
The delicate dragonet is a species of dragonet native to the Red Sea through the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean. It occurs at depths of from 1 to 20 metres. This species grows to a length of 6 centimetres (2.4 in) TL.
The longtail dragonet is a species of dragonet native to the western Indian Ocean. It can be found at depths of from 30 to 180 metres. This species grows to a length of 28 centimetres (11 in) TL. The specific name honours the British zoologist John Stanley Gardiner (1872–1946).
Callionymus hindsii, Hinds' dragonet, is a species of dragonet native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean where it occurs at depths down to 40 metres (130 ft). This species grows to a length of 9 centimetres (3.5 in) TL. The specific name is thought to most likely to be in honour of the British naval surgeon, naturalist and writer Richard Brinsley Hinds (1811-1846).
Callionymus kotthausi, Kotthaus’ deepwater dragonet, is a species of dragonet found only in the Indian Ocean off India where it occurs at depths of from 138 to 211 metres. The specific name honours the Swiss ichthyologist Adolf Kotthaus.
The sand dragonet is a species of dragonet native to the western Indian Ocean where it occurs at depths of from 1 to 20 metres over sandy substrates. Its diet consists mostly of benthic invertebrates. This species grows to a length of 13 centimetres (5.1 in) TL. The specific name most likely honours Harold Walter Bell-Marley (1873-1945) soldier and the Principal Fisheries Officer in the Natal Province from 1918 to 1937.
The reticulated dragonet is a species of dragonet native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea where it is found at depths of from 0 to 110 metres. This species grows to a length of 11 centimetres (4.3 in) TL. This species has a flattened head and body, the head has a triangular shape with the eyes placed on the top of the head. It has two dorsal fins with the first one being triangular in shape. It has blue spots along the flanks and four saddle-like markings on their backs which have sharply defined outlines. It is similar to the common dragonet but is distinguished by its smaller size and the sharply defined border around the saddle markings on the back.
The short-snout sand-dragonet is a species of dragonet native to the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean where it is found at a depth of around 8 metres (26 ft). It prefers muddy or sandy substrates, preferring areas near river mouths or estuaries. This species grows to a length of 6.5 centimetres (2.6 in) TL. The specific name honours Dirk François Schaap, a Dutch colonial administrator in the Dutch East Indies who lived on Bangka Island, Sumatra, who found this species.
The red dragonet is a species of dragonet native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean where it occurs at depths of from 70 to 600 metres. Males of this species reaches a length of 17 centimetres (6.7 in) SL while females only reach 13 centimetres (5.1 in) SL. This species is of commercial importance to local fisheries.
The Kai Island deepwater dragonet is a species of dragonet native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, from Zanzibar and the coast of East Africa to the western Pacific Ocean including southern Japan, the East China Sea and the Banda Sea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Bathycallionymus. This species was formally described in 1880 as Callionymus kaianus by the German-born British zoologist Albert Günther with from a type collected off Kai Island in the Banda Sea during the Challenger expedition of 1872–1876. Some authorities still place this fish in the genus Callionymus.
Diplogrammus is a genus of dragonets.
Eleutherochir is a monotypic genus of dragonets native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
The painted stinkfish or painted dragonet is a species of dragonet endemic to the Indian Ocean coasts of Australia and Tasmania where it is found at a depth of about 50 metres (160 ft). This species grows to a length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) TL. This species is the only known member of its genus.
Repomucenus is a genus of dragonets native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. This genus also includes one freshwater species (R. olidus).
Diplogrammus goramensis, or Goram dragonet is a species of tropical marine fish in the dragonet family, Callionymidae. It is native to the western Pacific Ocean from China to Fiji.
